Apparently dozens dead

Israeli airstrike leaves bloodbath in its wake

There are again many dead in the Gaza Strip.

(Bild: AFP/Omar AL-QATTAA)

Israel's counter-attack has been followed by a massive retaliatory strike. According to the armed forces, a Hamas command post was attacked in the south of the Gaza Strip. However, numerous families are said to have been in the tent city.

According to the Islamist Hamas, more than 100 people were killed in an Israeli attack on tent shelters for displaced Palestinians. The attack took place in the area of Khan Yunis in the south of the Gaza Strip, the press office of the Hamas-led government in Gaza reported. The statement speaks of a "terrible massacre". Civil protection workers were among the victims. 

Israel claims that the attack was aimed at leading heads of the Islamists - above all military chief Mohammed Deif. It is unclear whether he was killed, according to Israeli military radio.

"Targeted" attack according to Israel
Dozens of those killed were Hamas terrorists who were part of the security system, Israeli media reported. According to the army, the attack was "targeted" and had taken a long time to prepare. According to the Israeli armed forces, there were no hostages in the area.

According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, at least 71 Palestinians were killed and 289 others were injured. Israel's military said it was checking the information.

Further advances also in Gaza City
According to the Israeli army, it also continued its operations in the city of Gaza on Saturday. "In cooperation with the air force, the soldiers eliminated several terrorists yesterday," the military said on Saturday. In the city of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip, "numerous tunnel entrances" were destroyed and Hamas fighters were also killed. The air force also targeted a warehouse.

The destruction of the coastal strip is dramatic:

Paragliders had been stored there, which had been used in the major Hamas attack on Israel on October 7. A correspondent for the AFP news agency reported artillery fire in the south-east of Gaza and in the center of the city on Saturday. The Tel al-Hawa neighborhood was reportedly shelled with drones.

Eyewitnesses reported on Friday that Israeli soldiers had withdrawn from some neighborhoods in Gaza. According to the civil defense in the Hamas-controlled Palestinian territory, around 60 bodies had been found there after a two-week Israeli offensive. The Israeli army claimed to have killed "more than 150 terrorists".