Multiple Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip have killed dozens of Palestinians, including the enclave’s police chief and his deputy.
Medical sources told Tel Aviv Tribune on Thursday that the largest strike killed 12 people in a tent in the so-called “humanitarian zone” of al-Mawasi, a coastal area near the southern town of Khan Younis, with several children among the dead.
The attack also killed Gaza police chief Mahmud Salah and his deputy, Hussam Shahwan. Salah was a veteran officer who had spent 30 years in the armed forces, including six years as a leader.
Gaza’s Interior Ministry condemned the killings, saying the two officers had “performed their humanitarian and national duty by serving our people.” He accused Israel of sowing “chaos” and worsening “human suffering” in Gaza with this deadly strike.
“The police are a civil protection force that strives to provide services to citizens,” the ministry statement said.
A video clip made the day after the attack, which also left around 15 people injured, showed people searching for survivors among burning tents, scattered debris and washing lines where residents of the displaced persons camp had hung up their clothes to dry.
From Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, Tel Aviv Tribune’s Tareq Abu Azzoum said the latest strikes marked “a very significant escalation”, with an additional attack on a gas station on the outskirts of the city , killing nine people.
“The bodies were taken to al-Aqsa (Martyrs) Hospital. They have been… torn apart because of this brutal strike and we have seen the mothers… crying because of the loss they have suffered today,” he said.
Other Israeli airstrikes killed at least 26 Palestinians, including six at the Interior Ministry headquarters in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, three in the al-Shati camp, west of the city. from Gaza, and at least seven in the Jabalia refugee camp in the north.
Later Thursday, separate Israeli airstrikes killed at least four people on Jala Street in downtown Gaza and two in the Zeitoun neighborhood, medics said.
Another strike killed at least eight Palestinians in the central Gaza Strip. The dead were members of local committees who helped secure humanitarian convoys, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies.
Tel Aviv Tribune Arab correspondents, citing medical sources, reported that at least 63 people were killed in the besieged enclave on Thursday, without providing further details.
No warning
The Israeli military gave no warning about Thursday’s pre-dawn attack on al-Mawasi, which was hit relentlessly by Israeli warplanes, drones and artillery.
Philippe Lazzarini, director of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), denounced the attack.
“Earlier this year we received reports of a new attack on al-Mawasi, with dozens of people killed, another reminder that there is no humanitarian zone and even fewer safe zone (in Gaza),” Lazzarini said in a message on X. “Every day without a ceasefire will lead to more tragedies. »
Israeli forces have repeatedly targeted so-called “safe zones” in Gaza, targeting forcibly displaced families who had followed forced evacuation orders.
A recent attack on December 22 killed eight people, including two children. Earlier that month, on December 3, at least 20 people were killed in what the Israeli military claimed was the targeting of a Hamas official.
After Thursday’s attack, the army claimed it carried out an intelligence-based strike and eliminated Shahwan, whom it called the leader of Hamas security forces in southern Gaza. There is no mention of Salah’s death.
Days earlier, Israeli tanks advanced on al-Mawasi from the southern town of Rafah, forcing dozens of families to flee north, fearing an imminent attack.
Before the attack on the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, Israeli forces ordered all residents to flee three targeted areas.
The warning was described as “pre-anesthesia before the attack” by Israeli military Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee. “Once again, terrorist organizations are launching rockets from your area, which has been warned several times in the past,” he said in a message posted on social media.
The toll from the first two days of 2025 brings the total death toll to 45,581 since Israel began its genocide on October 7, 2023. At least six babies have frozen to death in recent days as Palestinians forcibly moved to across Gaza brave the winter rains.