An Israeli strike on a tent camp in Gaza early on Tuesday killed at least 40 people and wounded 60, Palestinian officials said.
Israel said it targeted “significant” Hamas militants and disputed the death toll.
The figures would place the attack among the deadliest yet in Muwasi, a sprawl of crowded tent camps along the Gaza coast that Israel has designated as a humanitarian zone.
Gaza’s Civil Defense said first responders recovered 40 bodies from the strike and that entire families were killed in their tents.
Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli airstrike on a crowded tent camp housing Palestinians displaced by the war in Muwasi, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. An Israeli strike killed at least 40 people and wounded 60 others early Tuesday, Palestinian officials said. Israel said it targeted “significant” Hamas militants, allegations denied by the militant group.
Abdel Kareem Hana/AP
An Associated Press camera operator recounted seeing first responders and displaced people pulling body parts from sand and rubble, sifting through with garden tools and their bare hands by the light of mobile phones.
Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, one of three hospitals to receive casualties, said around two dozen bodies were brought in from the strike.
Israeli evacuation orders, which now cover around 90% of the territory, have pushed hundreds of thousands of people into Muwasi.
Aid groups have struggled to provide even basic services in Muwasi, and Israel has occasionally struck targets there despite designating it as a humanitarian zone.
On Monday, the United Nations chief Secretary-General stressed the urgency for a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza War on Monday, saying the conflict had reached an “unprecedented” level of suffering.
“I’ve never seen such a level of death and destruction as we are seeing in Gaza in the last few months,” António Guterres said.
The Israeli military said it struck Hamas militants who were operating in a command-and-control center.
It said its forces used precise munitions, aerial surveillance and other means to avoid civilian casualties.
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesperson, disputed the reported number of casualties in a post on the platform X, saying the reports “do not line up with the information available to the (Israeli army), the precise weapons used and the accuracy of the strike.”
He said the militants killed were directly involved in the Oct. 7 attack and accused them of committing other recent attacks against Israel and Israeli forces.
Hamas released a statement denying any militants were in the area.
Neither Israel nor Hamas provided evidence to substantiate their claims.
Israeli troops reportedly stopped a convoy taking part in a polio vaccination campaign in Gaza on Monday, despite it coordinating with the military.
The main United Nations agency providing aid to Palestinians said the convoy was stopped for more than eight hours, and threats were made to detain U.N. staff.
The vaccination drive was launched after doctors discovered the first polio case in the Palestinian enclave in 25 years, and aims to vaccinate 640,000 children.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press
