Gaza: Guterres ‘shocked and saddened’ by deadly attacks on Al Mawasi as WHO and partners support medical response

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said late on Saturday through his spokesman that he was “shocked and saddened by the loss of life.”

Israeli officials said the attack was a “precision strike” targeting Hamas’ top military commander, Mohammed Deif, and his deputy, Rafa Salama.

The attack occurred near the town of Khan Younis in an area reportedly declared a safe zone for civilians by the Israeli military.

“Nowhere in Gaza is safe”

UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said reports indicated the attack took place in a densely populated area.designated as a humanitarian zone to accommodate displaced persons.”

“This underlines that there is no security anywhere in Gaza.“, he stressed. “The Secretary-General condemns the killing of civilians, including women and children.”

The Secretary-General reiterated that an immediate humanitarian ceasefire must be implemented and that all hostages must be released “immediately and unconditionally”.

In a post on X, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that 134 “seriously injured” people had been admitted to the nearby Nasser Medical Complex, “which is completely overwhelmed by the influx.”

Several hospitals treat injured

WHO staff, along with two emergency teams, are at the hospital helping to treat the injured, he continued.

“We have distributed 50 folding beds and 50 stretchers to increase the hospital’s capacity while our stockpiled medicines and trauma supplies are being used to save lives.”

Some of the injured were also taken to an International Medical Corps field hospital in Deir Al Balah, where WHO supplies were provided to meet the urgent needs of around 120 more people. Other non-governmental organization field hospitals have also received patients in need of urgent treatment, he said.

Louise Wateridge, Senior Communications Officer of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), tweeted shocking video from Al Nasser Hospital on Saturday afternoon local time, where staff were “mopping up pools of blood with only water.”

She described children lying on blood-stained mattresses, “traumatized by the loss of siblings. Some had lost limbs. Many had life-changing injuries.”

“Senseless massacre”

The independent UN expert who monitors human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, said in a post on X She was “horrified” by the number of dead and injured in the attacks on a Hamas base in an “open area,” an Israeli military official said.

Hamas said it was “untrue” that Israel had targeted its two highest-ranking military commanders.

Regarding the Israeli attack, which she considered to be “another senseless massacre” of civilians, Special Rapporteur Albanese tweeted: “The justification is always the same: ‘The attack targeted Palestinian militants.'”

Gaza Civil Defense officials also reported that at least 20 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack on a prayer center in the Shati refugee camp west of Gaza city on Saturday.

Listen to UNRWA’s Louise Wateridge describe UN News what happened in Gaza City earlier this week, following a week-long Israeli offensive there.