Israeli air strikes on the al-Mawasi camp in southern Gaza have killed at the least 90 folks and wounded 300 others, in accordance with Palestinian well being officers.
The assault on Saturday on the Israeli-designated “protected zone”, situated west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, concerned fighter jets and drones, in accordance with witnesses.
Israeli officers have stated the assault focused two senior members of Hamas’s navy wing, claiming they have been hiding amongst civilians.
Hamas has dismissed this declare as “false”, saying it’s a means of protecting up the “horrific bloodbath” at a location the place displaced Palestinians have been urged to hunt shelter after receiving orders to evacuate their houses elsewhere within the Strip.
Right here’s every thing it’s good to know in regards to the assault and its aftermath:
What’s the scenario on the bottom?
The assault killed at the least 90 civilians in a densely populated space sheltering about 80,000 folks, in accordance with Gaza’s Ministry of Well being.
Israeli warplanes hit tents housing displaced Palestinians and a water distillation unit.
Reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum stated the world was hit by “5 bombs and 5 missiles”.
Displaced folks sheltering within the space stated their tents have been torn down by the pressure of the strikes and have described our bodies and physique components strewn on the bottom.
“I couldn’t even inform the place I used to be or what was taking place,” stated Sheikh Youssef, a resident of Gaza Metropolis who’s displaced within the al-Mawasi space.
“I left the tent and regarded round. All of the tents have been knocked down, physique components, our bodies in every single place, aged girls thrown on the ground, younger kids in items,” he informed the Reuters information company.
The injured have been taken to the Nasser Medical Advanced in Khan Younis, which is severely understaffed and lacks important tools. Rescue staff say the Israeli military attacked crews who have been on their means to assist victims.
An official at Nasser Hospital informed Al Jazeera that medical groups didn’t have the capability to obtain any extra wounded sufferers as civil defence groups continued to work on search and rescue operations on the website of the assault.
Mohammad Subeh, an emergency physician working at one of many discipline hospitals close to al-Mawasi, informed Al Jazeera that rescuers have been “digging folks out of the bottom”.
The al-Mawasi space has been repeatedly attacked by the Israeli navy, with a strike in late May that hit tents housing displaced households killing at the least 21 folks.
What are Israeli officers saying?
The Israeli navy claimed in a press release that it acted based mostly on “exact intelligence” to hit an space the place “two senior Hamas terrorists” and extra fighters hid amongst civilians. It described the placement of the strike as “an open space surrounded by timber, a number of buildings, and sheds”.
The figures focused have been Rafa’a Salameh, commander of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade, and Mohammed Deif, head of Hamas’s navy wing – each accused of masterminding the Hamas-led October 7 assault on southern Israel.
Talking on the Ministry of Defence headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated it was “not completely sure” that the Hamas officers have been killed within the assault however maintained that it had nonetheless been useful to Israel.
“Simply the try to assassinate Hamas commanders delivers a message to the world, a message that Hamas’s days are numbered,” he stated. “And that is what I will likely be doing subsequent week on the US Congress. I’ll ship Israel’s message to the US and all the world.”
Netanyahu stated he authorised the strike after receiving passable data on collateral injury and the kind of ammunition for use. He added that the Israeli navy would “a technique or one other” kill all Hamas leaders.
Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut, reporting from Amman, Jordan, stated Netanyahu’s directive to “goal and kill Hamas officers wherever they’re”, claiming that it was finishing up exact and focused assaults, had repeatedly been used as a justification to strike civilians in densely populated Gaza.
What are Palestinian leaders saying?
Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas’s deputy head in Gaza, claimed that Netanyahu had wished to declare a “pretend victory” and that claims about focusing on the Hamas leaders have been false.
“Mohammad Deif is listening to you now and mocking your false, empty statements,” he informed Al Jazeera Arabic.
Hamas had earlier issued a press release on Telegram calling on Palestinians within the occupied West Financial institution and occupied East Jerusalem to “mobilise” in response to the assault.
“We name on all resistance brigades to mobilise for Gaza and in loyalty to the blood of the martyrs,” the assertion learn.
The armed group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) stated in a press release that Israel was “persevering with the conflict of extermination towards our folks”.
“This crime confirms that the occupation has disregarded all worldwide norms and covenants,” the PIJ stated.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa condemned Israel’s “genocidal crimes” in Gaza, saying that Palestinians have been “going by way of a really troublesome stage”.
Mustafa stated Israel’s actions have been extra broadly focusing on the Palestinian mission as an entire and included Israel’s objective of building an unbiased state with Jerusalem as its capital.
Hanan Ashrawi, a scholar and activist, stated the assault on al-Mawasi had “turned all of Gaza into one huge dying zone”.
“American bombs and shells rain down on Gaza whereas the Israeli authorities and thugs achieve stopping any type of medical, meals, or gas provides from reaching the devastated inhabitants,” she stated in a put up on X.
Right now’s horrific bloodbath & savage bombing of displaced Palestinians in Israeli designated “protected” zones of Muassi, Khan Younis is the newest in an escalation that has turned all of Gaza into one huge dying zone. American bombs & shells rain down on Gaza whereas the Israeli…
— Hanan Ashrawi (@DrHananAshrawi) July 13, 2024
What’s the scenario below worldwide legislation?
Francesca Albanese, the United Nations particular rapporteur on the human rights scenario within the occupied Palestinian territory, informed Al Jazeera the assaults could have breached worldwide legislation.
“Folks in a protected space are protected below worldwide legislation. If there’s a navy goal inside a protected zone, the motion needs to be proportional to the navy benefit that’s going to be achieved. Killing 70 folks for one just isn’t proportional,” she stated.
“I’m disgusted by the tolerance of Israel’s impunity which is enabling the genocidal conflict,” she added.
In March, the UN professional issued a report that acknowledged there have been “cheap grounds” to consider that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
How is the world reacting?
Egypt
“We condemn within the strongest phrases the Israeli raids on the al-Mawasi space,” Egypt’s Ministry of International Affairs stated in a press release. The ministry emphasised that “ongoing violations towards the rights of Palestinian residents” add critical “problems” to attaining a ceasefire deal.
Qatar
Qatar’s International Ministry stated that “the repetition of the heinous crimes proves day after day the necessity for pressing worldwide motion to right away finish this brutal aggression and supply safety for the Palestinian folks”.
It additionally warned that Israel’s “recklessness” would undermine worldwide efforts to implement a two-state resolution “and thus pave the best way for the enlargement of the cycle of violence within the area and the risk to worldwide peace and safety”.
Saudi Arabia
The International Ministry referred to as for “activating worldwide accountability mechanisms” towards Israeli abuses. “The International Ministry condemns in strongest phrases the continuation of genocidal massacres towards the Palestinian folks by the hands of the Israeli conflict machine,” it stated in a press release.
Iran
International Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani stated the assault was the “newest crime within the sequence of crimes dedicated by the child-killing Zionist regime”, in a put up on X.
“The Zionists have as soon as once more brutally proven that so as to compensate for the defeats suffered on the battlefield with the resistance, they don’t recognise any humane and ethical pink line in direction of the defenceless residents of the Gaza Strip, however they need to know that insisting on this path is nothing however a wider international hatred.”
Jordan
The International Ministry stated in a press release that it condemned the assault on “displaced individuals’” tents. Spokesperson Sufyan al-Qudah stated that Jordan denounces Israel’s continued violation of worldwide legislation and careworn the necessity for the worldwide group to behave to convey an finish to Palestinian struggling.
Colombia
President Gustavo Petro expressed outrage at what he referred to as “the best injustice”.
“I’m much more outraged as a result of this destruction of worldwide human legislation is a prelude to the barbarism they need to unleash on all of the oppressed folks of the earth,” he stated in a put up on X.