Photo: Eyad Baba Agence France-Presse A Palestinian woman carries an injured child to Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis after a strike on the al-Mawasi displaced persons camp.
Published yesterday at 3:46 p.m. Updated yesterday at 6:43 p.m.
Israel said on Saturday that it had targeted two senior Hamas leaders, including its military chief, during a strike on the south of the Gaza Strip, where the Palestinian Islamist movement reports 90 dead in a displaced camp.
The two leaders are Mohammed Deif and Rafa Salama, respectively head of the armed branch and commander in Khan Younes of Hamas, presented by the Israeli army as “two masterminds of the October 7 massacre”, date of the unprecedented attack carried out by the Islamist movement in Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza.
“There is no certainty that they were both eliminated,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later said. “In recent weeks, we have identified clear cracks within Hamas […] Today's operation also contributes to this, whatever the outcome,” he added.
According to Hamas, the Israeli air force bombed the al-Mawasi displaced persons camp, an area designated by Israel as a “humanitarian zone,” killing 90 people “half of whom were women and children” and wounding 300, revising upwards a previous toll of at least 71 dead.
The Israeli army assured that “the strike was carried out in a fenced area managed by Hamas where, according to our information, only Hamas terrorists were present, and no civilians,” estimating that “most of the victims were terrorists.”
The Islamist movement said the Israeli statements were aimed “at masking the scale of the horrific massacre.”
The elusive Mohammed Deif had announced in a recording released by Hamas on the morning of October 7 the start of Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood.” Before Saturday's strike, he had escaped at least six known assassination attempts.
“The elimination of Hamas leaders advances the achievement of all our goals,” Netanyahu said. “This sends a message of deterrence to all of Iran's proxies and to Iran itself.” »
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000In the al-Mawasi camp located near Khan Younes, the Israeli strike, among the deadliest since the start of the war, left a dusty crater, debris, flattened tents and displaced people raking the rubble by hand. search for victims.
“There was a drone shot, then three missiles,” says Mahmoud Abou Akar.
“There are people who have lost legs or arms everywhere, it’s an inconceivable scene,” describes Mahmoud Chahine, in tears, to AFP .
According to UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, around 1.5 million people are in the al-Mawasi sector, in Khan Younes and further south in Rafah.
“The claim that Gaza residents can move to “safe” or “humanitarian” areas is false,” reacted on X the head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini. In Gaza “no place is safe. No one is safe,” he stressed.
War broke out on October 7 after the unprecedented attack of Hamas infiltrated from Gaza into southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data.
Of 251 people then kidnapped, 116 are still being held in Gaza, 42 of whom are dead, according to the army.
In response, Israel has sworn to destroy Hamas, in power since 2007 in the Gaza Strip, and launched an offensive which has so far left 38,443 dead, mostly civilians, according to data from the Ministry of Health of the Gaza government, led by Hamas.
The Israeli army is also continuing its operations in the city of Gaza (north), where more than a hundred bodies were discovered Thursday and Friday in areas where violent fighting had raged, according to Civil Defense.< /p>
The Palestinian Civil Defense reported 20 dead on Saturday in a strike on the al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City.
The Israeli army did not immediately comment on this information.
The humanitarian situation is appalling in the territory besieged Palestinian: in a school in Deir el-Balah, 14,000 displaced Gazans share 25 toilets, UNRWA denounced on Saturday.
On the diplomatic level, efforts for a truce under the aegis of Qatar, Egypt and the United States continue.< /p>
US President Joe Biden said Friday that the “framework” of the ceasefire plan he unveiled on May 31 had been “accepted by Israel and Hamas.” “There are still gaps to be filled” but “the trend is positive,” he said.
Thousands of Israelis demonstrated again on Saturday evening in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, near the offices of Benjamin Netanyahu, to demand that a truce be concluded in order to obtain the release of the hostages.
But many are concerned about the impact of the strike targeting the Hamas military leader and suspect the Prime Minister of “sabotage” the ongoing negotiations.
“We are one step away from an agreement, and now it could blow up in our faces,” worries Einav Zangauker, whose son has been hostage by Hamas since October 7. “If Mohammed Deif was eliminated while the proposal is on the table, and Netanyahu doesn't say he wants to accept the deal, […] that means he's letting down Matan [his son, Editor's note] and the other hostages,” she added.
On another front, on the Israeli-Lebanese border, Lebanese Hezbollah said it had launched rockets on the north of 'Israel — injuring four soldiers according to the Israeli army — after an Israeli strike which, according to a security source, killed two civilians in southern Lebanon.
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