An Israeli air strike that hit central Gaza’s al-Maghazi refugee camp on Sunday has killed 70 people, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, with fears that the death toll could climb further.
The fatalities at the camp, east of Deir al-Balah, included at least 12 women and seven children, according to figures released by the ministry.
A spokesperson for the Palestinian health ministry, Ashraf al-Qidra, said the death toll was likely to increase.
“What is happening at the Maghazi camp is a massacre that is being committed on a crowded residential square,” he told Reuters.
Journalists from Associated Press at a nearby hospital watched civilians carry the dead, including a baby, and wounded following the strike.
“We were all targeted,” said Ahmad Turkomani, who lost several family members including his daughter and grandson. “There is no safe place in Gaza anyway.”
The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) has said it is reviewing the incident.
“Despite the challenges posed by Hamas terrorists operating within civilian areas in Gaza, the IDF is committed to international law including taking feasible steps to minimise harm to civilians,” an Israeli army spokesperson said in a statement.
Hamas called the air strike a “horrific massacre” and claimed that it was a “new war crime”.
The camp was last hit by a strike in November, resulting in more than 30 deaths, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
The strikes come nearly three months after Israel launched a military operation in Gaza in response to a brutal Hamas attack on Israelis on October 7, which killed 1,200 people.
More than 20,400 Palestinians have died since the beginning of the war, according to Gaza’s health ministry, while nearly 2.3 million people have been displaced.
Israel’s Government continues to stand behind its stated goals of crushing Hamas’ military capabilities and releasing the remaining 129 captives taken by militants on October 7.
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the war had come at a “very heavy price” for his country but that there was “no choice” but to keep going.
The IDF said that more than a dozen Israeli soldiers had been killed since Friday, bringing the total since October to 156.
In Egypt, tentative efforts continued on a deal for another exchange of hostages for Palestinians held by Israel.
The head of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Ziyad al-Nakhalah, said the militant group was prepared to consider releasing hostages only after fighting ends.
Israeli media reported that Egypt has put forward a deal to Hamas a three-stage deal that would ultimately end with the release of all hostages and the withdrawal of IDF troops from Gaza.
