The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says at least 71 Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli air strike on a designated humanitarian area, in an attack which Israel says targeted senior Hamas leaders.
More than 289 people were injured, according to the health ministry’s statement.
Hamas says the strike hit the al-Mawasi area near Khan Younis, which the Israeli military has designated as a humanitarian zone, urging Palestinians to seek shelter there.
An Israeli official said the strike targeted the head of Hamas’s military wing, Mohammed Deif, in an “open area” where there were “only Hamas terrorists and no civilians”.
Rafa Salama, the Hamas commander for Khan Younis, was also targeted in the strike, the official said, calling the intelligence that led to the incident “accurate”.
But Hamas said the claim that their leaders were targets is “false”.
“It is not the first time Israel claims to target Palestinian leaders, only to be proven false later,” the group said in a statement.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold security talks through the day, his office said according to Reuters.
An eyewitness in al-Mawasi told the BBC that the site of the strike looked like an “earthquake” had hit, and videos from the area show smouldering wreckage and bloodied casualties being loaded onto stretchers. People can be seen trying desperately to pick through the rubble of a large crater with their hands.
One of the doctors at a hospital dealing with the aftermath of the attack has told the BBC it is “one of the black days”.
Speaking to Newshour on the BBC World Service, Dr Mohammed Abu Rayya said the majority of cases coming in were dead, with others suffering from multiple shrapnel wounds.
He said it was like being in “hell”, adding that many of the casualties were civilians, notably women and children.
Footage from the nearby Kuwait field hospital showed scenes of chaos with patients being treated on the floor.
The Nasser medical complex in Khan Younis is “overwhelmed” and no longer able to function, said British charity Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP).
On Wednesday, the Israeli military told all residents of Gaza City to evacuate south to the central Gaza Strip, amid intensified operations in the north.
Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas’ military wing the al-Qassam Brigades, is a top target for Israel’s military.
Deif has near-mythical status in Gaza after escaping capture and surviving several assassination attempts.
He is believed to be one of the masterminds behind the 7 October Hamas attack, when about 1,200 Israelis and foreigners – mostly civilians – were killed and 251 others were taken back to Gaza as hostages.
It led to the major Israeli military operation in Gaza which has killed more than 38,400 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
A Hamas official, cited by Reuters, called the attack a “grave escalation” that showed Israel was not interested in reaching a ceasefire agreement.
The ceasefire negotiations being held in Qatar and Egypt ended on Friday without success, the BBC understands.
