“They said it was a safe place”: Israeli attack on a refugee camp in Gaza kills nearly 30 people

At least 29 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded in an Israeli air strike on a displaced people’s camp outside a school in southern Gaza, hospital officials said.

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said: The attack took place next to the gate of the al-Awda school in the town of Abasan al-Kabiraeast of the city of Khan Yunis.

The Israeli military said it has used “Precision ammunition” It was, he said, to attack “a terrorist from Hamas’ military wing” who took part in the October 7 attack against Israel.

The Israeli military said it was “investigating reports that civilians were injured” next to the al-Awda school, where displaced people from areas of eastern Khan Yunis live.

The incident came a week after the Israeli military ordered civilians to evacuate Abasan al-Kabira and other areas of eastern Khan Yunis, causing thousands to flee.

Witnesses told the BBC the area was teeming with displaced people at the time of the attack and described in detail the bloodshed that followed.

According to eyewitnesses, The attack caused widespread destruction and killed women and children,

Body parts were scattered across the area and several people living in tents outside the school were also injured.

Ayman al-Dahma, 21, told the BBC there was a crowd of about 3,000 people in the area at the time, adding that it contained a market and residential buildings.

Al-Dahma described the number of victims as “unimaginable” and said he saw people whose limbs were severed by the blast.

,They said it was a safe place, there was water and food, there was schools and everything… but suddenly, a rocket comes down on you and everyone around you.“He added.

Mohamed Awadeh Anjeh told the BBC the area was busy with people and market traders “going about their normal lives” when the attack happened.

“Suddenly, while we were sitting, we heard a sound. It was night… I was feeding my younger son.

,I don’t know what happened. Suddenly, I grabbed my son and started running… and as I ran, I saw my leg bleeding,” he said.,

The witness described the scene as “horrifying” and said he saw body parts scattered on the road.

Ikram Salout said there had been no prior warning that an attack could come in the area, telling the BBC that the area was full of people who had been forced from their homes by the conflict.

“There are many displaced people, you couldn’t even walk on the streets, there were many tents and many people, including young people.”

And he added: “The injuries we saw were serious, even in young children,

Video showed more than a dozen people dead or seriously injured on the floor of a local hospital, including several children.

A source at the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, where the wounded from Abasan al-Kabira were taken, said they feared the death toll would rise.

This is the fourth attack on or near schools housing displaced people in the last four days,

The Israeli military said it carried out the first three attacks because politicians, police officers and Hamas fighters were using them as hideouts:

• An attack on a UN-run school in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza on Saturday killed 16 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

• A senior Hamas government official and three others were killed in an attack on a church-run school in Gaza City on Sunday, local sources said.

• On Monday night, an attack on another UN-run school in Nuseirat left several people injured.

The Israeli military launched an operation in Gaza to destroy Hamas in retaliation for an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, during which nearly 1,200 people were killed and another 251 taken hostage.

More than 38,240 people have died in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

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