An Israeli air strike hit crowded tents, huddled together, in the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone, in the Khan Yunis area in southern Gaza, in the middle of the night on Tuesday, September 10. This seaside strip, which Palestinian families were forced to use as a refuge after orders of the Israeli army following the war triggered by the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, came under fire from several missiles and bombs fired by aircraft around midnight Monday.
In the hours that followed, rescue workers searched for survivors and tried to dig out the bodies still buried under the cratered sand. Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry said that at least 19 people had been killed in the strikes, revising an earlier toll of 40 people given by the Civil Defense service. Rescue workers were still searching for bodies early Tuesday morning.
“Entire families have disappeared in the Al-Mawasi massacre in Khan Yunis, under the sand,” Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal said in a statement. In videos shot during the night and broadcast on social media (international media have not been allowed independent access to the enclave since the start of the war in Gaza 11 months ago), images of rescuers and the population searching for bodies or survivors showed the scale of the strikes.
In a statement, the Israeli army said it had carried out strikes targeting “significant” members of Hamas, claiming they were in an operational command post, and had taken “numerous steps to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance and additional means.” Hamas denied the presence of its fighters in the area.
No respite
The tactic of large-scale strikes to eliminate Hamas targets is one employed by the Israeli army in Gaza. There are virtually no examples of these strikes succeeding in avoiding loss of life among the population. Strikes have been carried out on schools, where Hamas, according to the Israeli army, installs its fighters or logistical resources, and where displaced civilians from Gaza also find refuge. On July 13, a strike in the Khan Yunis region targeted a building where, according to the Israeli army, Mohammed Deif, the military chief of Hamas and the main architect, along with Yahya Sinwar (now head of Hamas), of the October 7 attack, was located. Deif was reportedly killed when he momentarily exited the underground tunnels and bunkers. The strike is also said to have killed Rafa Salama, head of the Hamas brigade in Khan Yunis, considered one of the strongest, as well as almost a hundred people.
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