Tel Aviv, 10 September 2024 (dpa/MIA) - The Israeli Air Force (IAF) said it has struck what it said was a command centre of the Palestinian militant organization Hamas in a humanitarian area in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.

Local media cited Gaza Civil Defence as saying that at least 40 people were killed in the airstrikes on the Al-Mawasi camp and more than 60 were injured. According to the report, tents housing internally displaced people were hit.

Early on Tuesday, the Israeli military said in a Telegram post the IAF "struck significant Hamas terrorists who were operating within a command and control center embedded inside the Humanitarian Area in Khan Yunis." It did not provide any information on casualties.

"The terrorists advanced and carried out terror attacks against IDF troops and the state of Israel," the post continued, adding that "numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians."

"The terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip continue to systematically abuse civilian and humanitarian infrastructure, including the designated Humanitarian Area, to carry out terrorist activity against the State of Israel and IDF troops," the post said.

Israel has repeatedly justified attacks on such areas citing intelligence saying that Hamas operatives are hiding there, using civilians as shields.

The claims from both sides could not be independently verified.

In July, Israel struck a target in the humanitarian zone between Khan Younis and Al-Mawasi, which Israel claimed served as a base for Hamas terrorists.

Mohammed Deif, the leader of Hamas' military wing in Gaza, and the commander of Hamas' Khan Younis Brigade, Rafa Salama, were killed in the attack.

Hamas-run health authorities in Gaza said the strike hit a refugee camp, leaving at least 90 people dead and another 300 injured.

According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, more than 40,000 people have been killed and more than 98,000 others injured in Gaza during 11 months of war. The figures do not distinguish between civilians and fighters and cannot be independently verified at present.

The Gaza war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel's history, with more than 1,200 dead, carried out by terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups on October 7.

Photo: EPA