Israeli Airstrikes Hit Gaza ‘Safe Zone’: Dozens Dead Including Women and Children

As Israel continued its relentless military campaign in the Palestinian enclave, Gaza’s civil defense service reported Thursday that at least 37 individuals had been killed by a series of Israeli airstrikes, the majority of them were in encampments for displaced inhabitants.

While Hamas leaders said that internal discussions on the most recent Israeli truce offer were almost finished, the Israeli military did not immediately comment, but it did say it was investigating claims of the strikes.

At least 16 people, mostly women and children, were killed and 23 others injured after two Israeli missiles struck a tent camp in the Al-Mawasi area of southern Khan Yunis, according to civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal.

The densely populated encampment was engulfed in flames following a powerful explosion. Survivors recounted scenes of panic and devastation.

“We were sitting peacefully in the tent, under God’s protection, when we suddenly saw something red glowing — and then the tent exploded,” said Israa Abu al-Rus, speaking to AFP. “This is supposed to be a safe area in Al-Mawasi… We fled toward the sea and saw the tents burning.”

The Al-Mawasi zone had been designated a humanitarian area, raising fresh concerns about civilian safety amid ongoing hostilities.

Israeli Strikes Hit Gaza “Safe Zone,” Kill Dozens Including Women and Children

At least 16 people, most of them women and children, were killed and 23 others injured when two Israeli missiles struck a tent camp in the Al-Mawasi area of southern Khan Yunis, according to civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal.

Survivors described the chaos and devastation as tents burned and families fled toward the coast.

“We were sitting peacefully in the tent, under God’s protection, when we suddenly saw something red glowing — and then the tent exploded,” said Israa Abu al-Rus. “This is supposed to be a safe area in Al-Mawasi… We fled toward the sea and saw the tents burning.”

Al-Mawasi, declared a “safe zone” by Israel in December 2023, became a refuge for tens of thousands of Palestinians escaping bombardment. However, the area has since been repeatedly targeted, with a rising toll on displaced civilians.

Bassal reported that Israeli strikes on two other encampments killed nine more people — seven in Beit Lahia, a northern town, and a father and son near Al-Mawasi.

In Jabalia, the civil defence agency confirmed two additional attacks targeting displaced people. One strike killed at least seven members of the Asaliya family, while another claimed the lives of three people sheltering in a school.

The continued bombardment of areas designated as shelters has fueled growing alarm among humanitarian groups and local officials, who warn that no place in Gaza is truly safe for civilians.

The agency also reported two people killed by Israeli shelling in the Shujaiya neighbourhood of Gaza City.

‘Starvation As A Weapon’

Israel said Wednesday that it had converted 30 percent of Gaza into a buffer zone in the widening offensive it resumed in March, ending a two-month ceasefire.

Defence Minister Israel Katz said this month that the military was leaving Gaza “smaller and more isolated”.

The United Nations said half a million Palestinians have been displaced since the offensive resumed, triggering what it has described as the most severe humanitarian crisis since the war began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

The Israeli military said its air strikes had hit “approximately 1,200 terror targets” since March 18, and “more than 100 targeted eliminations have been carried out”.

Hamas accused Israel on Thursday of attempting to starve Gaza’s 2.4 million people after Katz said the day before that Israel would continue preventing aid from entering the territory.

“This is a public admission of committing a war crime, including the use of starvation as a weapon and the denial of basic necessities such as food, medicine, water, and fuel to innocent civilians for the seventh consecutive week,” the group said in a statement.

Israel halted the entry of aid on March 2, exacerbating the territory’s ongoing humanitarian crisis.

“Blocking this aid is one of the main pressure levers preventing Hamas from using it as a tool with the population,” the defence minister said.

New Truce Offer

In parallel to the Gaza offensive, Hamas said Israel had proposed a new 45-day ceasefire through mediators that would include the release of dozens of hostages.

Netanyahu met hostage negotiators and security chiefs on Wednesday and “issued directives for the continuation of the steps to advance the release of our hostages”, his office said.

The proposal also called for Hamas to disarm to secure a complete end to the war, the militant group said.

A senior Hamas official, Mahmoud Mardawi, told AFP that the group’s “weapons will not be subject to any negotiations”.

Two Hamas officials said on Thursday that internal discussions on the truce proposal were nearly complete, with one telling AFP “the group will send its response to the mediators once they finish”.

“It’s expected the talks will wrap up soon — possibly even today,” the official said.

Israel’s renewed assault has so far killed at least 1,691 people in Gaza, the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory reported, bringing the overall toll since the war erupted to 51,065, most of them civilians.

Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, also mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

AFP