Israel targets Hamas military leader; 71 killed in Mawasi strike, officials say

At  least 71 Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli  airstrike  on a designated humanitarian area,  according  to  the  Hamas-run  Health  Ministry  in  Gaza.  The  attack  targeted senior Hamas  leaders,  according  to  Israel.



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  More than 289 people were  wounded,  according to  a  Health  Ministry  statement.
  The  attack  hit the al-Mawasi area near Khan Younis, which the Israeli  army  has designated as a humanitarian  zone  and  urged  Palestinians to seek  refuge  there.
  An Israeli military official said he did not know how many people  were  killed  in the  attack  and  did  not say  whether  the two Hamas men were among  the  dead  or wounded.| 
  He said the  attack  targeted the head of  Hamasand's  military wing, Mohammed  Deif,  one  of  the  Israeli  army's  main  targets,  and took place in an  "open  zone"  where  the  area  was  located.  where  "there  were  no  civilians."
  He  declined  to say whether it was inside a designated  security  zone, but said Hamas leaders had  "cynically"  set up  camp  in a civilian area.
  BBC Verify has  analyzed  footage of the aftermath of the  attack  and  confirmed  it took place  in  an area  designated  as  a  humanitarian  zone  on the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)  website.
  The official also said he was unaware of any  hostage-taking  in  the  area  during the  October  7  attack on  Israel.
  Rafa Salama, the Hamas commander  in  Khan Younis, was also  targeted,  the official said, adding that  "precise  intelligence"  was  not  needed.  met  before the  "precision  strike."
  Hamas said the claim  its  leaders  had  been  targets  was  "false."
  and  "This  is not the first time Israel  has  claimed  to  attack  Palestinian leaders, only to be proven false  later,"  the group said in a  statement  .  A  witness  in al-Mawasi told the BBC that the  scene  of the  attack  resembled  an  "earthquake"  at  the  scene  of  the  accident,  and videos from the area show  smoldering  remains  and bloodied  victims  desperately  trying  to  dig  through the rubble  with their  hands

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