KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel says it was targeted Hamas’ shadow army commander At least 71 people were killed in a major strike on Saturday in the crowded southern Gaza Strip, according to local health officials. Hamas immediately rejected the request.
is not immediately apparent Mohammed Taif was among the dead. Israeli officials confirmed that he and Hamas’s second-in-command, Rafa Salama, were targeted. A military official later said they were “still verifying and verifying the outcome of the strike,” and did not deny it took place inside an Israeli-designated safe zone.
Many believe Taif was the chief architect of the October 7 attack that killed around 1,200 people and sparked an offensive in southern Israel. Israel-Hamas war. He has been at the top of Israel’s most wanted list for years and is believed to have survived several Israeli assassination attempts in the past.
His possible killing threatens to derail ceasefire talks and would be seen as a major Israeli victory in the nine-month campaign.
“These false claims cover up the scale of the brutal massacre,” Hamas said in a statement in response to Israel.
Gaza’s health ministry said at least 289 people were injured in the attack – one of the worst of the war – and many dead and wounded were taken to nearby Nasser Hospital. There, Associated Press journalists counted more than 40 bodies. Witnesses described the attack as involving multiple strikes.
“Many victims are still under the rubble and on the roads, and ambulance and civil defense teams have not been able to reach them,” the health ministry said.
The Israeli military insisted that “additional terrorists are hiding among civilians” and described the area where the strike took place as an area surrounded by trees, several buildings and sheds.
Footage of the aftermath shows a huge crater, charred tents, charred cars and household goods scattered across the scorched earth as emergency workers and Palestinians displaced by the war search for survivors. Victims were carried on the hoods and hatchbacks of cars, donkey carts and carpets.
Witnesses said the strike landed inside Muwasi, an Israeli-designated safe zone stretching from northern Rafah to Khan Younis. The coastal area is home to hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians seeking safety, often sheltering in slums, makeshift tents and little services.
“It was designated as a safe zone filled with people from the north,” said one displaced Palestinian, who did not want to be named. “All the children were martyrs here. We collected their pieces with our hands. He estimated there were seven or eight missiles, and insisted that first responders were also targeted.
According to the Israeli official, the strike was carried out inside a fenced area of Khan Yunis run by Hamas, but did not specify the precise location, saying it was not a tent compound but an operational compound. The official described the strike in detail and said many of the casualties were estimated to be “terrorists”.
Deaf has been in hiding for more than two decades and is believed to be paralyzed. The only known photo of him is an Israeli-issued ID photo of the 30-year-old. Even in Gaza, few would recognize him.
Meanwhile, U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators continue to push for narrow gaps between Israel and Hamas over a proposed deal on a three-phase ceasefire and hostage release plan in Gaza.
The US-backed proposal calls for an early ceasefire with the release of a limited number of hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from populated areas of Gaza. At the same time, the two sides will negotiate a second phase of terms that includes a full hostage release in exchange for a permanent cease-fire and Israel’s complete withdrawal from Gaza.
Following this, Israel began its campaign in Gaza Hamas’ October 7 attack In this, terrorists entered southern Israel and kidnapped about 250 people.
Since then, more than 38,400 people have been killed and more than 88,000 injured in Gaza by Israeli ground attacks and bombings. Ministry of Health. The ministry does not distinguish between militants and civilians in its numbers.
More than 80% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been driven from their homes, and most are now crammed into squalid tent camps, facing widespread hunger.
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Federman reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Jake Jeffrey, Fatma Khaled in Cairo, West Bank, and Abby Sewell and Bassem Mrou in Beirut contributed to this report.
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