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At least 19 killed by Israeli attack on camp inside humanitarian zone

At least 19 killed by Israeli attack on camp inside humanitarian zone

Palestinian officials announced today that an Israeli airstrike on a tent camp inside the humanitarian zone in the Gaza Strip, where those displaced by the 11-month war are being sheltered, left 19 Palestinians dead and 60 wounded. Israel says it targeted senior Hamas leaders.

The attack comes as the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, is visiting Egypt, where he criticized Israel and Hamas for not being interested in reaching an agreement to end the war.

An overnight Israeli attack on a camp full of refugees killed at least 19 people and wounded 60, according to Palestinian officials. The camp in Muwasi is within the humanitarian zone designated by Israel, where hundreds of thousands of refugees displaced by the fighting in the Gaza Strip are being sheltered.

The first announcements by the Gaza Civil Defense indicated that they had found 40 bodies after the attack. Israel denies these figures.

"We were told to leave Rafah and we moved with everyone else. We were told to go to the safe areas and we came here. And look, this is their idea of ​​a safe zone. The Israelis are leaving no stone unturned... My son is 4 months old. Is he a warrior? This is not humane," says Iyad Hamed Madi, displaced from Rafah.

The Israeli military said it struck Hamas militants inside a command center located in the area and identified three militants who Israeli officials said were directly involved in the militant group's Oct. 7 attack that prompted Israel's war in Gas.

The war has caused widespread destruction in Gaza and displaced about 90 percent of the territory's 2.3 million population, most of whom have been forced to move several times in the past 11 months and are facing starvation and infectious diseases. According to Palestinian officials in Gaza, some 40,900 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, more than half of them women and children.

Efforts to reach a ceasefire have been repeatedly blocked by the unacceptable demands of the parties.

The European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, who is visiting Egypt on Tuesday alongside a European delegation, accused Israel and Hamas of blocking efforts by international mediators to end the war.

"We have given our full support to Egypt, Qatar, the United States to reach a ceasefire agreement, a ceasefire that has been announced many times. We are close, but we have not reached that point yet. Why? Put bluntly, because those who are fighting are not interested in ending it. That's why they are pretending... because their extreme attitude is being accompanied by a lack of punishment and their actions are not having consequences", he declared.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Monday that the conditions were in place for at least a six-week ceasefire, which would include the release of many hostages still being held in Gaza. But he did not commit to an end to the war, which is Hamas' main demand. /VOA

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