Gaza’s health ministry announced that at least 71 Palestinians were killed in the attack, adding that 289 others were injured.
Hamas said the bombardment hit tents housing displaced people in Masawi district of Khan Younis, an area that Israel had reportedly designated a safe zone.
“The Israeli occupation army conducted a big massacre by bombarding the tent camps of the displaced in Khan Younis,” the statement issued by the Hamas-run Gaza government media office added.
Israeli army radio cited defence sources as saying the target of the strikes was Mohammed Deif, head of Hamas’s military wing, something the Israeli army later confirmed.
However, a Hamas official told Reuters this was “nonsense”.
“All the martyrs are civilians and what happened was a grave escalation of the war of genocide, backed by the American support and world silence,” Abu Zuhri said, adding that the attack proved Israel was not interested in a ceasefire.
An official at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis has said that they were overwhelmed with bodies and injured people following the Israel attack on Mawasi, Al Jazeera reported.
Civil defence teams are also working to recover bodies from the rubble.
More than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since 7 October, medical authorities in Gaza say.
Israel’s assault on Gaza came in the wake of a Hamas attack on southern Israel that saw 1,200 people killed and hundreds taken captive. Israel has pointed to Deif as one of the masterminds behind the operation.
