A scene of horror and grief unfolded in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in the centre of the Gaza Strip, where an Israeli air strike killed at least 70 people, mostly civilians, late on Sunday night, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
The attack, which targeted a convoy of families who were fleeing the Israeli bombardment of northern Gaza, was one of the worst atrocities in the month-long war that has claimed more than 3,200 lives on both sides.
Witnesses said they saw dozens of injured people, many of them children, being rushed to the nearby Al-Aqsa Hospital, where the staff struggled to cope with the influx of casualties. Footage showed some children’s faces covered in blood and body bags piled outside the hospital.
One of the survivors, a father who lost his daughter and grandchildren, told reporters that his family had left their home in Gaza City after receiving a warning from Israel to evacuate. They were heading to the refugee camp, where they hoped to find shelter and safety.
But their hopes were dashed when Israeli jets fired missiles at their vehicles, turning them into fireballs. “They lived on the third floor of one of the buildings,” he said, sobbing. “The wall collapsed on them. My grandchildren, my daughter, her husband – all gone.”
“We are all targeted. Civilians are targeted. There is no safe place. They told us to leave Gaza City – now we came to central Gaza to die.”
The health ministry said three houses were hit in the attack, destroying a densely populated residential block. A spokesman, Ashraf al-Qudra, said the death toll was likely to rise, given the large number of families living in the area.
The Israeli military said it was looking into the report, but did not confirm or deny responsibility for the strike. A spokesman told the BBC that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) were committed to international law and taking feasible steps to minimize harm to civilians.
However, the UN and human rights groups have accused Israel of violating international law and committing war crimes by indiscriminately bombing civilian areas and infrastructure in Gaza. The UN has also warned that forcing more than a million people to flee their homes would have “devastating humanitarian consequences”.
The airstrike on the refugee camp was one of the deadliest incidents in the war that erupted on October 7, when Hamas and other Palestinian groups launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, with rockets and suicide bombers. Israel responded with a massive aerial and naval campaign that has killed more than 1,900 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, and injured more than 7,600.
The violence has sparked protests and condemnation across the Middle East and the world, with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets after Friday prayers to express their solidarity with the Palestinians and their anger at Israel. The US, Israel’s main ally, has been struggling to contain the crisis and to secure the release of Americans who have been taken hostage by Hamas.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a defiant statement on Saturday night, saying that Israel was ready for another attack on Gaza and that Hamas had “only started paying the price”. He vowed to continue the operation until Israel’s security was restored.
On Sunday, Pope Francis appealed for peace in the Middle East as he presided over a Christmas Eve Mass at Saint Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. Referring to the war between Israel and Hamas, the Pope said Jesus’s message of peace was being drowned out by the “futile logic of war” in the very land where he had been born.
