UN condemns Israeli strike on Gaza displacement camp

Antonio Guterres describes deadly attack as 'unconscionable' after 19 killed in a series of blasts in 'safe' area of Khan Younis

- ALASTAIR JAMIESON MICHELLE NICHOLS

Israeli strikes blasted huge craters in a designated safe zone in southern Gaza before dawn yesterday, burying Palestinian families under sand and killing at least 19 in what the United Nations called an “unconscionable” act.

The strikes occurred in al-Muwasi, a sprawl of crowded tent camps along the Gaza coast that Israel designated as a humanitarian zone for hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians to seek shelter from the nearly year-old Israel-Hamas war.

Video showed rescuers digging through the sand and rubble with garden tools and bare hands, using mobile phone torches until the sun came up. Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said the death toll could rise as more bodies are recovered.

“We were told to go to Muwasi, to the safe area ... Look around you and see this safe place,” said Iyad Hamed Madi, who had been sheltering there.

Israel said it had targeted senior Hamas militants with precise munitions. Hamas released a statement denying that any militants were in the area and calling the Israeli allegations a “blatant lie”. Neither Israel nor Hamas provided evidence to substantiate their claims.