At 12:34am local time (09:34 GMT), several Israeli missiles struck a refugee camp in the al-Mawasi area, located within the humanitarian zone designated by the Israeli army for displaced civilians – west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
The Israeli bombing caused widespread damage to the tents, homes, and facilities in the area.
Photos from the bombing site reveal widespread devastation, with craters 10 to 15 metres (33 – 49 feet) deep, burying dozens of tents.
Civil defence teams faced immense challenges retrieving the bodies of the dead and injured, with rescue operations continuing into the next morning.
At least 19 people have been killed and many wounded in the Israeli attack on the designated “safe zone” in southern Gaza, according to officials.
Gaza’s Ministry of Health announced that the bodies of the victims recovered so far were taken to hospitals after the missile attack on the tent camp in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis where Palestinians were sheltering, early on Tuesday.
“A number of victims are still under the rubble, under the sand, and on the roads, and ambulance and civil defence crews cannot reach them and retrieve them, and they have not reached hospitals yet,” the Health Ministry noted in a statement.
Israeli evacuation orders, which now cover much of the territory, have pushed hundreds of thousands of people into al-Mawasi. Aid groups have struggled to provide even basic services.
Israeli attacks have frequently hit areas where its military had previously directed civilians seeking safety.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed more than 41,000 people, caused vast destruction and displaced about 90 percent of the enclave’s population of 2.3 million, often multiple times.
The United Nations boss denounced Israel’s air raids on the Israeli-designated “safe” zone in southern Gaza, calling the use of heavy weapons in a densely populated area “unconscionable”.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed deep alarm at the continuing loss of life in Gaza and reiterated no place in the territory is safe, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.
Guterres reiterated calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and the immediate and unconditional release of all captives taken by Hamas on October 7, Dujarric added.
