The devastating Gaza war has already lasted almost a year, and the death toll continues to rise. Many people are said to have been killed again in an air strike in the humanitarian zone.
According to Palestinian sources, at least 19 people were killed and 60 others injured in an Israeli air strike in a humanitarian zone in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army said the attack targeted important Hamas terrorists in a command center hidden in the zone. It also denied the high number of deaths.
Hamas initially spoke of at least 40 deaths. The Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health later reported 19 deaths in Gaza hospitals. At the same time, there was talk that civilians were still missing. Other Hamas authorities continued to speak of 40 Palestinians killed.
Images from the scene showed a huge crater in the ground and people desperately digging in the sandy soil with their bare hands for more victims. According to the civil defense in the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by the Islamist Hamas, tents housing internally displaced people were hit. Israel had repeatedly called on Gazans who had fled to seek safety in the Al-Muwasi humanitarian zone.
According to the Israeli military, numerous measures were taken before the attack to reduce the risk of harm to civilians.
Israel: Hamas command center was target of attack
Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said the targets of the attack included the head of the Hamas air combat unit in the Gaza Strip and the head of a Hamas intelligence unit, who were directly involved in the October 7 massacre and have recently been carrying out terrorist activities against Israel.
Hamas, however, had declared that Israel’s claim that its fighters were in the humanitarian zone was “a blatant lie”.
In a similar incident in July, Israel’s military bombed a fenced-off facility in the humanitarian zone between Khan Yunis and Al-Mawasi, which Israel said served as a base for Hamas terrorists. Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif and the commander of Hamas’ Khan Yunis Brigade, Rafa Salama, were killed in the attack. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, 90 people were killed in the massive airstrike.
Deif is considered one of the masterminds of the terrorist attack by Hamas and other extremist groups on October 7 of last year. More than 1,200 people were killed in Israel and around 250 others were taken hostage to Gaza. The unprecedented massacre triggered the war. Since the war began, the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza has risen to more than 41,000, according to local authorities. The number does not distinguish between fighters and civilians and is difficult to verify.
Relatives Forum: Terrible conditions for hostages
According to Israel’s count, 101 people are still being held by Hamas, although it is unclear how many of them are still alive. According to their relatives, the abductees are being held in horrific conditions. The forum of the families of the abductees announced that an initial investigation by the army into the fate of six of the most recently killed hostages had shown that the murdered hostages had previously been “held in narrow underground tunnels with little air.” They had suffered from extreme malnutrition and weight loss and had shown “clear signs of long-term physical neglect.”
According to military sources, the six bodies were found in a tunnel in the Rafah area in southern Gaza a good week ago and brought to Israel. The hostages had been deliberately killed by the kidnappers shortly beforehand. The forum called for an immediate deal with Hamas for their release.
However, indirect negotiations for their release, mediated by the US, Egypt and Qatar, have been going in circles for months. The multi-stage agreement under discussion would also include an end to the war, the withdrawal of the Israeli military from the Gaza Strip and the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons.
Critics accuse Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to torpedo the conclusion of such an agreement with excessive demands. The communications director of the US National Security Council, John Kirby, said, however, that Hamas was the biggest obstacle to the negotiations. Hamas official Isat al-Rischek said that Kirby’s accusations that Hamas had made new demands during the negotiations were completely unfounded.
US warns of major Israeli war with Hezbollah
Meanwhile, Israeli media quoted warnings from an unnamed US government official about the possible consequences of a major war between Israel and the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah. The price would be very high for both sides, he warned. Thousands, perhaps even tens of thousands of deaths and severe destruction are to be feared. In addition, such a war would ultimately end with an agreement that would look similar to “what we are trying to achieve now.”
Since the beginning of the Gaza war, there have been almost daily military confrontations between the Israeli army and Hezbollah. People have been killed in both Israel and Lebanon, and tens of thousands have fled the border region because of the fighting.
Source: Stern

I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.