Survivors recalled the dire scenes of deadly airstrikes by Israel targeting a humanitarian area in Khan Younis of Gaza Strip on early Tuesday morning Tuesday.
The overnight airstrike took place in the Al-Mawasi area in Khan Younis, where a sprawl of tent camps have been erected along the Gaza coast to serve as a humanitarian zone for displaced persons. The Israeli military said the strike targeted senior Hamas leaders operating from a hidden command center in the area.
According to witnesses and survivors, around five massive missiles hit that area and caused huge craters on the ground. The craters are around nine meter-deep because of the several bombardments that were taking place inside.
Because of the bombardments, several internally displaced people's tents were literally evaporating. And the situation is still extremely catastrophic as people are trying to find the bodies of their loved ones under the wrecks of the tents and also in the craters.
The strikes on the designated safe zone on Tuesday killed at least 40 people and injured more than 60 others, according to the Hamas-run Gaza government media office. At the same time, local health authorities reported the arrival of 19 bodies at hospitals, saying more victims are likely being trapped under the rubble.
"We saw several strikes, likely F16 strikes, Now as you can see these holes. Those people came from Khan Younis, Gaza, Al Qarara and Rafah. They're all asked by Israel to stay in Al Mawasi and came to the humanitarian zone accordingly. Some stayed in tents while others rented or just stayed in the street. May the Lord help them for they're children and women," said Alaa Al Shaer, a witness.
"We arrived at the place where there was a very, very deep hole. There were martyrs and injuries in the place. Civil Defense responded immediately, where some of the injured were transferred and digging was done to search for some of the missing people in the place with the simple machines and capabilities that we have. There are still missing people. We asked for the digger hoping to extract some of the missing people from the place," said Abu Mahmoud Al-Bordini, a civil defense worker. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society made a special statement saying that some of the people who are injured are in need of some precise surgical interventions that are not available because of the very critical situation Gaza has been living and because of the scarcity of all the precise equipment and medical supplies needed to conduct that type of operation. With the closure of the border, the situation of those people is likely to exacerbate and deteriorate and some of the people are under real threat of death because of that.
Countries in the region, including Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, and Iran, on Tuesday strongly condemned the attack.
Israel has launched a large-scale retaliatory offensive against Hamas in Gaza following a surprise attack by Hamas across the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023, during which Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages. The Israeli offensive has so far killed 41,020 Palestinians and injured 94,925 others in the coastal enclave, according to Gaza-based health authorities.
Survivors recall dire scenes of Israel's bombing on Gaza's safe zone
Survivors recall dire scenes of Israel's bombing on Gaza's safe zone
Survivors recall dire scenes of Israel's bombing on Gaza's safe zone
