An Israeli strike on a crowded tent camp housing Palestinians displaced by the war in Gaza killed at least 40 people and wounded 60 others early Tuesday, Palestinian officials said.
The Civil Defense said it had recovered 40 bodies from the strike in a designated humanitarian zone known as Mawasi and was still looking for people. It said entire families had been killed as they huddled in tents.
An Associated Press cameraman saw three large craters at the scene, where first responders and displaced people were sifting through the sand and rubble with garden tools and their bare hands by the light of mobile phones after the predawn strike.
The Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, one of three hospitals to receive casualties, said around two dozen bodies had been brought in from the strike.
The Israeli military said it had struck Hamas militants who were operating in a command-and-control center. It said its forces had used precise munitions, aerial surveillance and other means to avoid civilian casualties.
Hamas released a statement denying any militants were in the area.
Aid groups have struggled to provide even basic services in Mawasi, and Israel has occasionally struck targets there despite designating it as a humanitarian zone.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began.
