(The Muslim News): At lease 151 Palestinians were killed and 429 injured by indiscriminate bombings by Israeli Defence Forces in the last 24 hours in Gaza Strip, according to the Ministry of Health. Local health authorities confirmed that the Palestinian death toll from the Israeli onslaught since October 7 has risen to 38,443 reported fatalities, with an additional 88,481 individuals sustaining injuries. The majority of the victims are women and children.
At least 90 people have been killed and 300 wounded half of whom were women and children in an Israeli air attack on the al-Mawasi refugee camp, an Israeli-designated “safe zone”, the Health Ministry in Gaza said Saturday.
The Israeli army claims the target of the attack was senior Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif; Hamas immediately rejected the claim as “false”, saying “defenceless civilians” were killed in the attack.
Hanan Ashrawi, a distinguished scholar and an activist, tweeted that Israel’s latest mass killing of at least 71 Palestinians [according to the figures then] in al-Mawasi has “turned all of Gaza into one massive death zone”.
“American bombs and shells rain down on Gaza while the Israeli government and thugs succeed in preventing any form of medical, food, or fuel supplies from reaching the devastated population,” she said in a post on X.
She called the attack “horrific” and “savage”.
A representative for Hamas has refuted Israeli claims that an air raid that killed at least 71 Palestinians in a designated humanitarian zone in Gaza was targeting leaders of the group.
“The truth is that these allegations are an attempt to cover up the scale of the crime and the scale of the massacre, in order to try to justify such a massacre, even though targeting this number of displaced people is not justified by anything,” Izzat al-Rashq, a member of the Hamas political office, told Reuters.
The World Health Organization says it is responding with partners to injuries resulting from the al-Mawasi attacks as “many remain missing under the rubble”.
WHO Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said “134 severely injured people have been admitted to Nasser Medical Complex, which is extremely overwhelmed by the influx of patients”.
He added that the UN agency “dispatched medical and trauma care supplies to cover the urgent needs of 120 people”. Patients were also taken to al-Amal, Kuwait and Al-Quds hospitals as well as other field hospitals.
It was stated earlier that “the bodies of 20 Palestinians and over 90 injured arrived at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis after Israeli forces bombed the Al-Mawasi area.”
Earlier, the Gaza government media office reported that more than 100 Palestinians were killed and wounded in a “major massacre” committed by the Israeli army in the Al-Mawasi area, which it classified as a “safe zone.”
It was stated in a statement that “the occupational army committed a major massacre by bombing displaced persons camps in the Al-Mawasi area in Khan Younis, leaving more than 100 casualties, including individuals and officers from the Civil Defense according to a preliminary toll.”
Eyewitnesses told Anadolu Agency that the Israeli army used five heavy missiles to target the Al-Mawasi area, which was declared a safe zone by the Israeli forces.
In an attempt to justify the Israeli “massacre” of Palestinians, Israeli media claimed that the Israeli army bombed the Al-Mawasi area to target Mohammed Deif, the commander-in-chief of the Al-Qassam Brigades, which Hamas denied.
The Israeli Prime Minister has suggested that even if the al-Mawasi attack that killed 90 Palestinians did not succeed in assassinating top Hamas officials, it is still beneficial to Israel.
“Just the attempt to assassinate Hamas commanders delivers a message to the world, a message that Hamas’s days are numbered,” he said.
“And this is what I will be doing next week at the US Congress. I will deliver Israel’s message to the United States and the entire world.”
Netanyahu says it “is not absolutely certain” that Hamas’ military commander Mohammed Deif and his deputy Rafa’a Salameh were killed in today’s strikes on al-Mawasi.
He added that the Israeli military would “one way or another” kill all Hamas leaders.
The prime minister said he approved the strike after receiving satisfactory information on collateral damage and the type of ammunition to be used.
In another attack by Israeli forces on a mosque in the central Gaza Strip on Saturday has climbed to 15, with more than 20 others injured.
“The Israeli army targeted a mosque in the Shati Camp, west of Gaza City, in the central Gaza Strip,” Mahmoud Basal, a Civil Defense Agency spokesman, told Anadolu.
The attack killed 15 Palestinians and injured over 20 others, most of them seriously, he added.
Meanwhile, in a new “massacre committed” by the Israeli tanks and artillery, at least 20 civilians were killed and dozens were injured this afternoon in the al-Shati refugee camp to the west of Gaza City.
[Photo: Relatives mourn death of dear & near ones killed by Israeli bombs house belonging to Al-Raii family, bodies are brought to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on 13 07 2024. Photojournalist: Ashraf Amra/ AA]
