GAZA: Israeli airstrikes killed more than 60 Palestinians in southern and central Gaza overnight and into on Tuesday, including one that struck an Israeli-declared “safe zone” crowded with thousands of displaced people.
Airstrikes in recent days have brought a constant drumbeat of deaths of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, even as Israel has pulled back or scaled down major ground offensives in the north and south. Almost daily strikes have hit the “safe zone” covering some 60 square kilometres along the Mediterranean coast, where Israel told fleeing Palestinians to take refuge to escape ground assaults.
Tuesday’s deadliest strike hit on a main street lined with market stalls outside the southern city of Khan Younis in Muwasi, at the heart of the zone that is packed with tent camps. Officials at Khan Younis’ Nasser Hospital said 17 people were killed.
Apparently referring to the strike, the Israeli military said in a statement that it targeted a commander in Islamic Jihad’s naval unit west of Khan Younis. It said it was looking into reports that civilians were killed.
The attack hit about a kilometer from a compound that Israel struck on Saturday, saying it was targeting Hamas’ top military commander, Mohammed Deif. That blast, in an area also surrounded by tents, killed more than 90 Palestinians, including children, according to Gaza health officials.