CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK, LEDE; UPDATES DEATH TOLL, ADDS MORE DETAILS
By Anadolu staff
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – At least 20 Palestinians were killed and over 90 others injured in an Israeli attack on Saturday targeting displaced persons' camps in the southern Gaza Strip.
In a statement, the Gaza Health Ministry said that “the bodies of 20 Palestinians and over 90 injured arrived at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis after Israeli forces bombed the Al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza Strip.”
Earlier, the Gaza government media office reported that more than 100 Palestinians were killed and wounded in a "major massacre" committed by the Israeli army in the Al-Mawasi area, which it classified as a "safe zone."
It said in a statement that “the occupation army committed a major massacre by bombing displaced persons camps in the Al-Mawasi area in Khan Younis, leaving more than 100 casualties, including individuals and officers from the Civil Defense according to a preliminary toll."
Eyewitnesses told Anadolu that the Israeli army used five heavy missiles to target the Al-Mawasi area, which was declared a safe zone by the Israeli forces.
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 Hamas.
More than 38,300 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 88,300 injured, according to local health authorities.
Over nine months into the Israeli war, 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.
* Writing by Ikram Kouachi