Illustrative image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
At least 71 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes that designated a humanitarian area in the Gaza Strip on July 13, in an attack which Israel says targeted the top leader of the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas Movement.
More than 289 people were also wounded as a result of the attack, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said in a statement.
The strikes hit the al-Mawasi area near the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, which the Israeli military has designated as a humanitarian zone.
The Israeli military alleged in a statement that the attack targeted al-Qassam Brigades leader Mohammed Deif in “a fenced-off Hamas compound” where there were only fighters. Rafa Salama, the Hamas commander for Khan Younis, was also at the targeted compound, the military said, calling the intelligence that led to the incident “accurate”.
No Israeli hostages were held by Hamas at the compound when the strikes were carried out, according to the Israeli military.
Responding, Hamas said in a statement that the Israeli claim that its top military leaders were targeted in al-Mawasi is “false”.
“It is not the first time Israel claims to target Palestinian leaders, only to be proven false later,” the group said.
Deif is said to be the mastermind behind the October 7 Hamas-led surprise attack on Israel, which claimed lives of over 1,200 Israelis and saw the capture of more than 200 others. The Israeli military responded with a military operation that has so far claimed the lives of more than 38,000 Palestinains in Gaza.
The Israeli military may have carried out the bloody attack on al-Mawasi based on faulty intelligence, as Hamas usually acknowledged the death of its leaders right away.
All in all, the attack on the humanitarian zone shows how Israel ignores even its own rules while conducting operations in Gaza, endangering the lives of Palestinians.
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