The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said yesterday that at least 90 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike on a designated humanitarian area.
About 300 people were injured, according to the health ministry’s statement, in an attack which Israel said targeted senior Hamas leader Mohammed Deif, among others.
In a news conference yesterday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there was no confirmation that Mohammed Deif had been killed.
The strike hit the al-Mawasi area near Khan Younis, which the Israeli military has designated as a humanitarian zone.
An Israeli military official said the strike took place in an “open area” where there were “no civilians”.
He refused to say whether it was inside a designated safe zone, but said Hamas leaders had “cynically” set up in a civilian area.
BBC Verify has analysed footage of the aftermath of the strike, confirming that it took place within an area shown on the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) website as a humanitarian zone.
