Germany says deadly Israeli attack on Khan Yunis safe zone may be justified

By Oliver Towfigh Nia

BERLIN (AA) - Germany on Monday suggested a deadly Israeli attack on a humanitarian safe zone near the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis could be justified.

The strike that hit the densely populated Al-Mawasi on Saturday killed at least 90 people and wounded many more. Israel said the strike targeted Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas military wing.

Asked at a press briefing whether the Israeli air assault was justified, given the fact that it killed dozens of people, among them women and children, Foreign Ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer said: "I don't think that's an easy question to answer because, for example, we don't know how many of the victims were terrorists."

“Perhaps we first have to state again that the Israeli airstrike on Saturday at noon was, I believe, aimed at Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif and also Rafa Salama, the commander of the Khan Yunis Brigades," he added.

Fischer said he was “not able to assess” whether Israel was using proportional violence in the lethal attack.

The German diplomat urged also both war parties once again to return to cease-fire talks.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.

Nearly 38,600 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and around 88,900 injured, according to local health authorities.

More than nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.