Intense Fighting in Mawasi As Israeli Forces Encircle Refugee Zone
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Israeli military tanks have reached the perimeter of the Mawasi evacuation zone in Gaza, where tens of thousands of displaced people have taken shelter, according to local residents.
“The fighting with the resistance has been intense,” an unnamed resident told Reuters. “The occupation forces are overlooking the Mawasi area now, which forced families there to head for Khan Younis.”
On Friday, an Israeli attack near the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) base at the al-Mawasi camp, designated by Israel as a safe zone, killed at least 25 people and wounded 50 others.
EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell has called for an independent investigation into the al-Mawasi attack.
On Saturday, Israeli attacks on the Shati refugee camp and the Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza City resulted in at least 42 Palestinian deaths, the head of Gaza’s Government Media Office told Al Jazeera.
The Israeli military targeted a residential neighborhood in the Shati refugee camp, where displaced Palestinians from the north of the territory were instructed to seek refuge.
Gaza’s Ministry of Health said on Saturday that Israeli attacks killed 101 Palestinians and wounded 169 in less than 24 hours, with many people still under the rubble and ambulances and civil defense crews unable to reach them.
This marks the highest daily death toll recorded in the enclave by the ministry since June 8, when Israeli forces killed at least 274 Palestinians to free four Israeli captives in the Nuseirat refugee camp.
Sultan Barakat, a professor of public policy at Qatar’s Hamad Bin Khalifa University, condemned Israel’s recent strikes, stating they add to a “long list of crimes against humanity in Gaza.”
The “tragedy” of the assaults in Shati and al-Mawasi camps is that they occurred in areas declared safe by Israel, Barakat said. “They are now declaring to target Hamas bases there within that context,” he said. “None of this can be justified. Even when Israel says it targeted individuals linked to Hamas, the size of the bombs used means they 100 percent know it is inevitable, given the density of the camps, that many, many civilians will be killed.”
According to Gaza's Health Ministry, more than 37,500 people have been killed and 85,900 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza since October 7.
