Israel strikes tent camp in Gaza safe zone, dozens reported killed or wounded

PHOTO CAPTION: People inspect the site following Israeli strikes on a tent camp sheltering displaced people, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, at the Al-Mawasi area in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, September 10, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

By Mohammad Salem and Nidal al-Mughrabi

AL-MAWASI, Gaza Strip/CAIRO (Reuters) -Israeli strikes blasted a huge crater in a designated safe zone in southern Gaza before dawn on Tuesday, setting tents ablaze and burying Palestinian families under sand.

Palestinian officials said scores of people had been killed or injured in the strikes, with at least 19 dead bodies brought to hospital and other victims feared lost or buried. Reuters journalists saw several bodies in the morning aftermath. Israel disputed the Palestinian casualty figures.

The Israeli military said it had struck a command centre for Hamas fighters it said had infiltrated the designated "humanitarian" area in al-Mawasi, a vast camp on sandy soil where the military has told hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to shelter since ordering them out of their homes.

Hamas denied any fighters were present.

Rescuers dug with shovels through the night, searching for bodies and survivors buried where the strike had blasted a crater the size of a small football pitch.

Tents in the surrounding area had been incinerated, leaving only metal frames dusted with ghostly ash in a wasteland littered with debris. A car had been completely buried, only its top visible beneath the sand.

In the morning, mourners at a nearby hospital wailed over bodies heaped in white plastic bags or wrapped in bloodstained shrouds.

One of Raed Abu Muammar's daughters had been killed. His wife and his other daughter had been buried but were pulled out alive. He carried the surviving baby girl.

"I was under the sand as well. I got out and started looking for my daughters and my wife. I saw body parts of the neighbours in my tent - I did not know those were our neighbours' parts until I saw my family in one piece."

"These are the Israeli targets. Look at them," he said, gesturing to the baby girl in his arms. "We were in humanitarian areas that were supposed to be safe."

The Gaza health ministry, which compiles casualty figures, said hospitals had so far received 19 bodies. Other victims were still under sand or on roads that rescuers could not reach, it said.

The Hamas-run Gaza government media office put the number of fatalities at more than 40. It said that at least 60 others were wounded in the strikes and many remained missing.

Residents and medics said the camp was struck by five or six missiles or bombs.

"We saw women cut in pieces, children cut in pieces and martyrs. There are still people missing. People are looking for them and they still have not found them yet," survivor Ola al-Shaer told Reuters at the site.

The Gaza Civil Emergency Service said at least 20 tents caught fire. It estimated 65 dead or wounded including women and children.

"Our teams are still moving out martyrs and wounded from the targeted area. It looks like a new Israeli massacre," a Gaza civil emergency official said.

U.N. Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland strongly condemned the Israeli strike on a densely populated safe area, while also saying civilians should never be used as human shields.

"The principles of distinction, proportionality, and precautions in attack must be upheld at all times," he said. "I reiterate my call for all sides to immediately reach an agreement that will bring about the release of all hostages and a ceasefire. The killing of civilians must stop, and this horrific war must end."

ISRAEL DISPUTES CASUALTIES

The Israeli military said it had struck senior Hamas commanders who were operating in a command centre embedded inside the designated humanitarian area.

"These terrorists were directly involved in the execution of the Oct. 7th massacre and have been recently operating to carry out terror activities," it said.

The military added that casualty figures published by Hamas-run authorities in Gaza "do not align with the information held by the IDF, the precise munitions used, and the accuracy of the strike".

Hamas denied Israeli allegations that gunmen were present in the targeted area, and rejected accusations it exploited civilian areas for military purposes.

"This is a clear lie that aims to justify these ugly crimes. The resistance has denied several times that any of its members exist within civilian gatherings or use these places for military purposes," said Hamas in a statement.

The war was triggered on Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's subsequent assault on Gaza has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, according to the enclave's health ministry.

The two warring sides each blame the other for a failure so far to reach a ceasefire that would end the fighting and see the release of hostages.

Nearly all of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been forced from their homes at least once, and some have had to flee as many as 10 times.

(Reporting by Nidal Al-Mughrabi. Additional reporting by Mohammad Salem in Gaza and Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem; Editing by Cynthia Osterman, Stephen Coates, Peter Graff)