Getty imagesAt least 37 people were killed in a series of Israeli strikes, most of them in areas where displaced civilians have set up tents, said the civil defense agency managed by Hamas in Gaza.
Al-Mawasi witnesses told the BBC that the tents had been engulfed in the flames following a “powerful” explosion, causing the death of dozens of Palestinians, including children. A man said he woke up to “scream and panic” and watch “the flames quickly spread from one tent to another”.
Israel has already told the Palestinians to evacuate other parts of Gaza in Al-Mawasi.
The Israeli army did not immediately comment, but said it was examining reports on strikes.
The director general of the United Nations Agency for children in UNICEF, Catherine Russell, said: “Images of children burning during the shelter in makeshift tents should shake us all in our hearts.”
Later Thursday, Hamas officially rejected the last proposal from the ceasefire of Israel, saying that it was ready to negotiate an agreement that would see the release of all the remaining hostages in exchange for the end of the war.
Israel had offered a 45-day ceasefire in exchange for the exit of 10 hostages.
In a press release, Hamas’ negotiation team Khalil Al-Hayya said the group would not accept the partial agreements that serve (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) The Netanyahu’s political agenda “.
Israel’s declared objective is the complete disarmament and destruction of Hamas.
Regarding recent strikes, the spokesman for the Civil Defense Mahmoud Bassal said that two missiles had struck tents in the Al-Mawasi coastal region near the southern city of Khan Younis, killing at least 16 people “, most of them women and children.” He said 23 others were injured.
The video verified by the BBC has shown that the charities of the camp with goods scattered through the ground and the survivors have taken damage.
The survivors described the awakening to “sound of cries and panic” after a powerful explosion “struck the camp.
“I rushed outside and I saw the tent next to mine engulfed in flames,” said a man on the BBC Gaza Lifeline program.
“Women were missing, trying desperately to escape fire,” he continued.
“Many martyrs were lost in the fire and we were helpless to save them. It was heartbreaking to see them die just before us, unable to do anything because the flames quickly spread from one tent to another.”
He said that a “large number” of children died.
A moved woman from Khan Yunis said the strike had killed 10 family members during her sleep, with five other injured family members.
A man has described rushing to the scene with others after hearing the explosion and tried to turn off the flames by throwing sand on the tents.
“But we have failed,” he said. “The fire was too intense, consuming tents and people inside. We were helpless, we couldn’t do anything to save them.”
Amande Bazerolle, emergency coordinator for borderless medicines (MSF) in Gaza, said that strikes had occurred near their office and that MSF had received some of the victims.
“Last night, he was very close to our office in the south. When the tents were targeted and fired, we received the patients. Most of them are actually dead and arrived dead, but we have very critical patients,” she told the BBC.
The Gaza Civil Defense Agency said that new air strikes had killed seven people in the northern city of Beit Lahia, two near Al-Mawasi and 10 people in Jabalia, including seven family members in an attack and three people in a school building being used as a refuge in another.
In a statement on Thursday, the Israeli army said that strikes in the past two days had “reached more than 100 terrorist targets”, including “terrorist cells, military structures and infrastructure sites”.
The FDI said that earlier in the week, strikes in the Khan Younis region had killed Yahya Fathi Abd al-Qader Abu Shaar, the head of the Hamas weapons contraband network. He said measures had been taken to mitigate the risk of prejudice to civilians.
Israel put Gaza under a complete blockade on March 1 and resumed war on March 18. Since then, Israeli attacks have killed 1,691 people, according to the Ministry of Health managed by Hamas. About half a million Palestinians were moved by renewed Israeli evacuation orders and Israel incorporated 30% of Gaza into “safety zones”.
On Thursday, the chiefs of 12 large aid organizations said that the Gaza humanitarian aid system “faced the total collapse”.
“This is one of the worst humanitarian failures of our generation,” wrote the leaders of the management of 12 NGOs, including Oxfam and Save the Children, in a press release.
Israel says it aims to put pressure on Hamas to release hostages and promised to maintain the blockade. He claims that there is no shortage of help because 25,000 charges of supplies trucks entered during the ceasefire.
The war began on October 7, 2023 when Hamas led a cross -border attack against the Israeli communities, killing around 1,200 people and entering 251 hostages according to Israeli accounts.
The military campaign of Israel against Hamas has killed at least 51,065 people, according to the Hamas Ministry of Hamas in the territory.
