September 10, 2024 | 07.17
READING TIME: 2 minutes
At least 40 people were reportedly killed in a Israeli attack during the night against a humanitarian zone near Khan Youniscreated to shelter displaced people in southern Gaza. The news was reported by local press and relief officials quoted by CNN. Israel has meanwhile claimed to have struck “a command center of Hamas terrorists” in the area.
According to the Gaza Civil Defense, more than 60 people were injured in the attack, with rescuers facing “great difficulties” in retrieving the victims – many of whom were believed to have been sleeping at the time of the attacks – due to a lack of resources and “the absence of a light source.”
The attack has Al-Mawasi, a coastal region near Khan Younis where tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have fled, was hitmany of whom are living in tents in an area with little infrastructure, little access to shelter or humanitarian aid, CNN explains.
According to the Israel Defense Forces: The attack “hit key Hamas terrorists operating inside a command and control center embedded within the humanitarian area”but the Palestinian organization denied having deployed fighters in the area. In a statement, CNN further explains, Hamas called Israel’s claims about the presence of its fighters in the area “a blatant lie, through which it seeks to justify these atrocious crimes.”
Hamas later said that “dozens of unarmed civilians, most of them children and women” were killed in the attack. Gaza civil defense spokesman Mahmoud Bassal also said that Palestinians in the area were not warned in advance of the attack.
West Bank, Allenby crossing reopens
Meanwhile, the Allenby crossing between the West Bank and Jordan reopens this morning, closed on Sunday after the terrorist attack that killed three Israeli civilians. The bridge will remain closed to commercial traffic, however. Security officials ordered the reopening, according to the Times of Israel, citing the Israel Airport Authority, which is responsible for managing the crossing.
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