Dozens killed in Israeli attack; Hamas military commander reportedly targeted

July 13, 2024

At least 71 people have been killed in a massive attack on a designated humanitarian zone in the southern Gaza Strip, Hamas-led health officials said, while Israel suspected the rocket was aimed at the militant group’s elusive leader.

According to witnesses, the attack landed in Mawasi, the Israeli-designated security zone that stretches from northern Rafah to Khan Younis, the two largest cities in the southern half of the enclave.

Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have fled to the coastal Mawasi strip in search of safety, mostly sheltering in makeshift tents as Israeli forces advance through the enclave for the second time since the war began last October.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said at least 289 other people were injured in the attack and many of the injured and dead were taken to nearby Nasser Hospital.

Footage of the aftermath showed charred tents, burned-out cars and household items scattered across the blackened earth as rescue workers and Palestinians displaced by the nine-month war searched for survivors.

Israel claimed the attacks targeted Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif and a second Hamas commander, Rafa Salama. An official added that they were “only Hamas terrorists and not civilians.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold security talks later today, his office said. Reuters.

Many believe Deif was primarily responsible for the October 7 attack that killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and sparked the subsequent war in Gaza. In the months of Israeli air strikes and ground offensives in the Gaza Strip that followed, more than 38,000 Palestinians were killed.

Deif has been at the top of Israel’s wanted list for years and is believed to have escaped several Israeli assassination attempts in the past. His possible killing threatens to jeopardize ceasefire talks and would be seen as a major Israeli victory in the nine-month campaign.

But Hamas rejected Israel’s claim. “This is not the first time the occupation has claimed to have targeted Palestinian leaders, and its lies were later proven false,” the group said in a post on X/Twitter.

Jihad Taha, a Hamas spokesman in Beirut, added that the claim that Deif was the target of the attack was a “baseless claim” and “is in the context of justifying and covering up the crimes and massacres.”