An Israeli attack on southern Gaza kills 71 people and said to target head of Hamas' military wing
UNB
Publish: 14 Jul 2024, 03:45 AM
JERUSALEM,
July 13 (AP/UNB) - An Israeli attack on the south of the Gaza Strip on Saturday
killed 71 people and injured scores, the Health Ministry in Gaza said, while an
Israeli official said it targeted the head of Hamas' military wing.
The Israeli official
identified the target of the strike in Khan Younis as Mohammed Deif, believed
by many to be the chief architect of the Oct. 7 attack that killed some 1,200
people in southern Israel and triggered the Israel-Hamas war.
Deif has topped Israel's
most-wanted list for years and is believed to have escaped multiple Israeli
assassination attempts in the past.
The official, speaking
on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement, said Rafa Salama,
another top Hamas official, was also targeted in the strike. The official did
not have details on whether the two were killed.
The Gaza Health Ministry
said at least 289 others were injured in the attack and that many of the
injured and dead were taken to nearby Nasser Hospital. At the hospital, Associated
Press journalists counted over 40 bodies and witnesses there described an
attack that included several strikes.
It remains unclear if
the attack landed inside Muwasi, an Israeli-designated humanitarian zone, which
stretches from northern Rafah to Khan Younis. The coastal strip is where
hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have fled to in search of
safety, sheltering mostly in makeshift tents.
The latest deadly strike
comes as U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators continue to push to narrow gaps
between Israel and Hamas over a proposed deal for a three-phase cease-fire and
hostage release plan in Gaza. The potential killing or injury of any senior
Hamas official threatens to derail the ongoing talks.
The U.S.-backed proposal
calls for an initial cease-fire with a limited hostage release and the
withdrawal of Israeli troops from populated areas in Gaza. At the same time,
the two sides will negotiate the terms of the second phase. Phase two is
supposed to bring a full hostage release in return for a permanent cease-fire
and complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Israel launched its
campaign in Gaza after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack in which militants stormed into
southern Israel, killed some 1,200 people - mostly civilians - and abducted about
250.
Since then, Israeli
ground offensives and bombardments have killed more than 38,300 people in Gaza
and wounded more than 88,000, according to the territory's Health Ministry. The
ministry does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.
More than 80% of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been driven from their homes,
and most are now crowded into squalid tent camps, facing widespread hunger.
END/UNB/AP/PR