According to official reports, 71 people are dead and hundreds injured in attack on refugee camp in Gaza Strip

Palestinian medics reported that at least 71 people were killed and hundreds injured in an Israeli airstrike on a refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip.

Among the dead was a Hamas military leader who was the target of the attack, Israeli media reports said on Saturday.

Health authorities in the Gaza Strip, controlled by the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement, said at least 289 people were injured in the attack on the al-Mawasi camp when tents for displaced people were hit. Many were seriously wounded and in critical condition, medical sources in the Gaza Strip said.

Israeli media reported that the target of the attack was Mohammed Deif, the leader of Hamas’ military wing in the Gaza Strip.

According to the newspaper Haaretz, army sources believe that Deif was killed in the attack.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the attack hit Deif and the Hamas military leader in the central Israeli city of Khan Younis, Rafa Salama. It has not yet been confirmed whether the two, considered “masterminds of the October 7 massacre,” were killed.

One of Israel’s central goals in the current conflict is the capture or killing of Deif and the Hamas leader in Gaza, Yehya al-Sinwar. The third-highest ranking Hamas leader in Gaza, Marwan Issa, was reportedly killed in March.

The Israeli military said the attack was carried out “in a fenced area controlled by Hamas, which, according to the Israeli military, contained only Hamas terrorists and no civilians.”

“It was a targeted attack. It is estimated that most of the victims were also terrorists who were traveling with Deif and Salama,” it said.

According to the Israeli Defense Forces, the target area was an open area surrounded by trees, several buildings and shacks. There were no tents nearby. However, according to Palestinian reports, the attack hit tents housing displaced people.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said the airstrike was being investigated, adding that Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had conducted an assessment of the operational situation together with military and intelligence chiefs “in light of developments in the Gaza Strip.”

According to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, several heavy attacks took place in Gaza early Saturday morning.

Staff at Nasser Hospital reported a shortage of beds to accommodate the numerous injured following the attacks.

The Israeli military said on Saturday that operations would continue throughout the Gaza Strip, including Gaza City.

Report: Two dead in Israeli drone attack in Lebanon

Meanwhile, fighting between Israel and Lebanon continues. Two civilians were killed in an Israeli drone attack in southern Lebanon, the official Lebanese news agency NNA reported on Saturday.

The two were found dead in a vehicle in the town of al-Khardly after being attacked by a missile fired from a drone, the agency added.

One of the fatalities was identified as Mussa Sulaiman, a member of the Shiite Amal group, an ally of the Lebanese Iran-aligned Hezbollah movement.

Israeli forces said they had attacked “two Hezbollah terrorists” who were preparing to fire missiles toward Israel from southern Lebanon.

There are fears that the conflict could spill over into Lebanon, as there have been almost daily clashes between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah since the Gaza war began.

Argentina classifies Hamas as a terrorist group

Argentina has classified Hamas as a terrorist organization.

“Hamas has claimed responsibility for the atrocities committed during the attack on Israel on October 7. These are part of a long history of terrorist attacks in the name of Hamas,” President Javier Milei’s office said on Friday evening.

The United States, Canada and the European Union designated Hamas as a terrorist organization long ago, but Argentina, along with Paraguay and Costa Rica, is one of the few countries in Latin America that has already taken this step.

Other countries, such as Colombia and Bolivia, broke off relations with Israel because of Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Milei is considered a loyal ally of Israel and unreservedly supports the policies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in the Gaza war.

The Jewish community in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires is one of the largest outside Israel.