At least 40 Palestinians have been killed across Gaza in Israeli attacks, including a drone strike on people sitting at a café in the al-Mawasi area in the south of the territory which was previously designated a “safe zone” by Israel’s military.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Gaza said that at least 10 civilians were killed late on Monday in a double missile strike by an Israeli drone on the small tent café, located to the west of Khan Younis in the south of the war-torn enclave.
“This is more proof that the Israeli claims about ‘evacuation zones’ and ‘safe areas’ are nothing more than false narratives,” Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.
“People go to this coffee shop to connect to the internet and the outside world or to watch a football game on the big screen. A drone fired at least two missiles at the café while people were inside. A witness said it was packed,” Mahmoud said.
“Victims who arrived at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis for treatment were completely disfigured,” he said, adding that seven people injured in the strike were undergoing surgery.
Earlier, health officials at al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat, located in central Gaza, said 20 people were killed in a series of air and ground attacks on Monday, including Israeli tanks advancing into the Nuseirat refugee camp from the west and opening fire on residents and displaced families who tried to flee.
A witness said the tank attack on the refugee camp caught residents by surprise.
“Some people couldn’t leave and remained trapped inside their homes, appealing to be allowed out, while others rushed out with whatever they could carry as they fled,” said Zaik Mohammad, 25, who lives 1km (half a mile) from the area targeted in the camp.
In the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya, which Israeli forces have besieged since the beginning of October, medics said four people were killed in an Israeli air attack. Several other people were killed in an air attack in Gaza City.
An Israeli drone also attacked Kamal Adwan Hospital near Beit Lahiya, injuring three medical staff, health workers report.
Reporting from Deir el-Balah, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum said the hospital has appealed to international institutions to provide protections in light of the attacks.
“Since the early hours of this morning, there has been a wide intensification of attacks in the north of the Gaza Strip, in particular, in the vicinity of Kamal Adwan Hospital and also on the central market in Gaza City,” Azzoum said.
“These areas have been witnessing new evacuation orders that have been passed and issued by the Israeli military,” he added.
Since the war began last year, at least 43,603 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza due to Israeli attacks, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.
Israel’s attacks on the enclave began after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack that killed an estimated 1,139 people in southern Israel.
‘Horrific and shocking crimes’
Arab and Muslim countries condemned the “horrific and shocking crimes” committed by Israel during its war in Gaza at a joint Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in Saudi Arabia on Monday.
In a statement, the leaders condemned “in the strongest terms” the Israeli army’s actions in the enclave.
The statement denounced “the crime of genocide… especially in the northern Gaza Strip during the past weeks”, citing torture, executions, disappearances and “ethnic cleansing”.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also said during the summit that the kingdom “categorically” rejects the “genocide against the brotherly Palestinian people”.
He urged the international community to also stop Israel from attacking Iran to respect its sovereignty.