Gaza’s health ministry disclosed on Saturday, July 13, 2024, that at least 71 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack on the al-Mawasi camp in Khan Younis, adding that 289 others were injured.
Al-Mawasi, once a small coastal town, has become a camp for war displaced in southern Gaza.
Israeli military confirmed that it targeted Hamas military Chief, Mohammed Deif, in Saturday’s attack.
However, Hamas said that Israeli claims of targeting leaders of the Palestinian militant group are “false.”
“It’s not the first time Israel claims to target Palestinian leaders, only to be proven false later,” Hamas said in a statement.
“These false allegations are merely a way to cover up the big scale of the horrific massacre,” the group added.
“The al-Mawasi massacre in Khan Yunis has been committed against an area that is crowded with more than eighty thousand displaced people. This is an obvious and clear confirmation from the Zionist government that it will continuing its war of extermination against our Palestinian people, through repeatedly and systematically targeting the defenceless displaced civilians in tents, shelters and residential neighbourhoods.
“This is a commitment of their ongoing heinous crimes against the civilians, without putting into consideration and paying attention to any of the laws of war that enforce the protection of civilians.”
Hamas
Senior Hamas official, Abu Zuhri also called the Israeli allegations “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,” he told a news agency, adding that the strike showed Israel was not interested in reaching a ceasefire deal.
Gaza’s Government Media Office stated that Israel is spreading “fake news, lies and rumors” about targeting Palestinian leaders “in order to divert attention from the horrific crime in al-Mawasi, Khan Younis.”
“The Israeli occupation has been practising a policy of deception repeatedly since the beginning of the war of genocide, in an attempt to cover up its failure and the crimes it commits against civilians and displaced persons, especially children and women,” the office said.
Also on Saturday, an Israeli attack on a prayer hall at a Gaza beach camp for the displaced at west of Gaza City, caused the death of at least 17 Palestinians.
Meanwhile, Health officials at Nasser medical complex in Khan Younis, previously the biggest functioning hospital in Gaza, said that doctors could not provide medical healthcare to the large number of casualties because of the intensity of Israel’s military offensive and acute shortages in medical supplies.
Earlier, the Gaza health ministry said that Nasser hospital had received 20 bodies and 90 injured people as a result of an Israeli attack in Khan Younis.
Israeli Attack On Al-Mawasi Denounced
Jordan’s Foreign Ministry condemned Israel’s attack on the al-Mawasi area.
In a statement, it condemned the attack on “displaced persons’ tents in Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip, in an area that Israel had previously classified as safe, which resulted in the death and injury of dozens of Palestinians”.
Spokesperson Sufyan al-Qudah said that Jordan denounces Israel’s continued violation of international law and stressed the need for the international community to act to bring an end to Palestinian suffering.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) also said in a statement that Israel’s claims of targeting senior Palestinian resistance figures “prove its premeditated intention to commit this crime” in Gaza’s al-Mawasi.
“The horrific massacre committed by the Zionist entity in al-Mawasi near Khan Younis is an insistence on continuing the war of extermination against our people,” the group asserted.
“This crime confirms that the occupation has disregarded all international norms and covenants,” the group added.
Moreover, Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned Israeli “massacres” in Gaza’s al-Mawasi and Shati refugee camps.
In a statement issued on X, the ministry called on “the states supporting Israel to awaken their conscience and morals, and to stop obstructing international efforts to end the genocidal war” in the besieged Palestinian enclave.
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