At least 71 Palestinians killed in an Israeli strike on a refugee camp in southern Gaza.: Day 281 of the Gaza war

Thank you for joining us for today's coverage of the Gaza war. Make sure to tune in tomorrow for all the latest updates.

Latest updates at the Lebanese-Israeli border:

An Israeli drone carried out a raid on the village of Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil district), a security source told our correspondent in the South.

Hezbollah announced that it fired a Falaq rocket at the deployment of Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of the Israeli Hanita site, facing Alma al-Shaab (Sour district), at 5:38 p.m.

In response to an "Israeli assassination in the Southern Lebanese village of Mari yesterday," Hezbollah said that it fired a "Jihad" missile on the Israeli site of Metula, facing the Lebanese village of Khiam. An Israeli drone targeted a motorcycle near the junction of the village of al-Mari in Rashaya al-Foukhar (Hasbaya district) yesterday, killing a Hezbollah member.

According to our correspondent in the South, it is the first time that Hezbollah has used a "Jihad" missile since the start of the hostilities last October. The missile was named after Jihad Mughniyeh, the son of Imad Mughniyeh, who was also reportedly responsible for developing the group’s activities in southern Syria. The "Jihad" missile is a surface-to-surface missile, part of the heavy missile system that Hezbollah announced in a previous report about its artillery.

According to "official" Israeli sources quoted by the American media outlet Axios, the army dropped five bombs weighing "2,000 pounds" (907 kilos) on the building in the al-Mawasi camp in southern Gaza. 

Egypt and Jordan have condemned the Israeli strike in Khan Younis, in the Gaza Strip, which reportedly targeted Hamas military leader Mohammad Deif, Haaretz reports.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that "the incident dangerously hampers efforts to restore calm." 

Latest updates from southern Lebanon:

* Israeli warplanes targeted an area between the villages of Markaba and Rabb al-Thalathin (Marjayoun district), residents told our correspondent in the South.

* Israeli artillery shelling targeted the outskirts of Hanine and Tiri (Bint Jbeil). Residents told our correspondent in the South that phosphorus shells landed on the outskirts of these villages.

Hezbollah announced that it carried out four new attacks against Israel:

* Hezbollah announced that it targeted "spy equipment" at the Israeli site of Ramiah, located opposite the southern Lebanese village of Ramieh in the Bint Jbeil district, at 2:05 p.m.

* In response to Israeli attacks on Southern Lebanese villages and houses especially on the village of Taybeh (Marjayoun district), the party announced that it targeted buildings used by Israeli soldiers in the Margaliot settlement in Northern Israel, facing the Lebanese village of Houla.

* Hezbollah said that it fired Falaq rockets at a deployment of Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of the Beit Hillel Israeli barracks, facing Houla, at 2:32 p.m.

* Hezbollah finally said that it fired Falaq rockets on a deployment of Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of the Israeli site of Maayan, facing the Lebanese village of Khiam.

A spokesman for Gaza's emergency services has announced that 14 Palestinians were killed and more than 20 wounded, most in serious condition, in an Israeli strike on the al-Abad mosque in Gaza's al-Shati refugee camp, Haaretz reports. According to reports, many bodies were mutilated and teams worked to collect body parts.

According to eyewitnesses quoted by Haaretz, the strike took place as dozens of people were gathered in the mosque courtyard for midday prayers. "It was like a return to the early days of the war. Indiscriminate shooting at all the targets, even though they were civilians praying. Within seconds, bodies were thrown everywhere. It was a horrible, unbearable scene," an eyewitness told the Israeli media.

The situation along the Blue Line:

- Israeli fighter planes bombed Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil), according to local residents.

- Artillery fire targeted western Houla (Marjayoun), according to local residents.

- The Israeli army, quoted by Haaretz, reported that twelve rockets were fired from Lebanon towards Kiryat Shmona and Margaliot. According to the army, most of the projectiles were intercepted and there were no casualties.

About the strike on al-Mawasi camp:

An Israeli military official said he is "still verifying the result of the strike against Hamas military leader Mohammad Deif," Reuters reports.

For its part, the Israeli army said in a statement that "soldiers identified two Hezbollah terrorists preparing to launch projectiles towards Israeli territory in the Deir Mimas region in southern Lebanon."

"Shortly after the identification, the air force struck the terrorists", the statement added.

In its first statement of the day, Hezbollah announced that it had fired rockets at "a group of Israeli soldiers located near the Matat barracks," opposite the Lebanese village of Rmeich (Bint Jbeil), at 12.30 pm. 

After the Israeli airstrike in the area of Khardali in South Lebanon, near Deir Mimas (Marjayoun), the Amal Movement announced the death of one of its members, Moussa Sleiman, born in 1964. The Amal Movement confirmed the location and circumstances of Sleiman's death "in an Israeli attack in the Khardali area." Around 22 Amal members have been killed since the start of the hostilities along the Lebanese-Israeli border last October.

According to information obtained by our correspondent, Sleiman was a member of Kfar Kila's municipal council and previously was a chief organizer of the party in its Kfar Kila office.

The other victim of the strike, Najib Halawi, hasn't been claimed by any of the parties fighting in South Lebanon. According to our correspondent, he was the son of a Hezbollah fighter killed on Oct. 29, 2023 in an Israeli airstrike, Mohammad Halawi.

Both were killed in a drone strike.

The municipality of Kfar Kila also released a statement in which it mourned Halawi and Sleiman, adding that the deceased were on their way to visit the village when they were killed by a drone strike.

The Israeli army attacked ambulance drivers on their way to help victims of the Israeli attack on al-Mawasi, which killed at least 71 people and injured hundreds more, reports al-Jazeera.

"While on our way to the scene of the incident, two vehicles were directly targeted, resulting in the death of two of our colleagues. Six others were injured, three of them seriously," said Mohammed el-Moughair, a member of the Gaza rescue organization, quoted by al-Jazeera journalist Tarek Abou Azzoum.

According to the civil defense, most of the dead and wounded in the strike "are children." 

The Gaza Health Ministry has announced a new death toll of 38,443 in the Palestinian territory since the start of the war with Israel, now in its tenth month.

At least 98 people have been killed in the last 48 hours, it said in a statement, adding that 88,481 people had been wounded in the Gaza Strip.

Nasser Hospital, previously Gaza's largest, is "no longer able to function," said health officials at the facility, quoted by Reuters.

"Doctors have announced that they are overwhelmed and unable to provide medical care to a large number of victims due to the intensity of the Israeli military offensive and the severe shortage of medical equipment," he added.

Victims of the al-Mawasi strike were transferred to several hospitals in the region. At the Kuwaiti hospital in Rafah (south), director Suhaib al-Hams described the situation as "a real disaster" and said that most of the injuries were serious, including amputations.

"What did we do? We were just sitting by the beach," shouted a Palestinian near a body lying in a street in the camp. 

In a statement, Hamas denied that the shadow leader of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades since 2002, Mohammad Deif, had been killed in the strike on the al-Mawasi camp, "This is not the first time that the occupation has claimed to target Palestinian leaders, and these false claims aim to conceal the scale of the horrific massacre," which killed at least 71 people. 

Argentina has declared Hamas an "international terrorist organization" because of the attacks carried out in Israel on Oct. 7 and "a long history of attacks." the presidency announced in a statement released overnight.

"The Hamas group has been declared by the Argentine state as an international terrorist organization," said the statement from the office of ultraliberal President Javier Milei, who presents himself as a close ally of the state of Israel.

Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient Today

In pictures

The car targeted by an Israeli drone strike near "Jisr al-Khardali", on the outskirts of Deir Mimas, in the Marjayoun district of southern Lebanon. The strike killed the vehicle's two passengers. 

Deadly Israeli strike on al-Mawasi camp:

Israeli army security services and the Shin Bet said they had targeted Hamas military chief Mohammad Deif and other members of the group in a civilian area, Haaretz reported, adding in their statement that they "have no knowledge of the presence of hostages in the area."

The Israeli media reported that the Prime Minister's office said in a statement that the army had been authorized, since the start of the war, to target and kill all Hamas leaders. The statement added that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been informed of all developments on Saturday night, and that he would continue to receive updates as events unfolded.

However, a senior Hamas official refuted this claim to Reuters, calling it "absurd."

"All the martyrs are civilians and what happened is a serious escalation of the war of genocide, supported by the United States and the silence of the world," said Sami Abou Zuhri, who added that the attack showed that Israel was not interested in reaching a cease-fire agreement.

However, a senior Hamas official refuted this claim to Reuters, calling it "absurd."

"All the martyrs are civilians and what happened is a serious escalation of the war of genocide, supported by the United States and the silence of the world," said Sami Abou Zuhri, who added that the attack showed that Israel was not interested in reaching a cease-fire agreement.

Following the strike on the al-Mawasi IDP camp in the southern Gaza Strip, Haaretz reported that Hamas military chief Mohammad Deif was the Israeli army's target. The Israeli strike killed at least 71 Palestinians and wounded 291, according to Gaza's Ministry of Health. The Israeli media added that Deif's condition was "unknown."

🔴 Strike on the al-Mawasi camp in southern Gaza: the Ministry of Health announces a new death toll of at least 71.

⚡Gaza's Health Ministry announced that at least 20 Palestinians had been killed in a strike on the al-Mawasi camp in the southern Gaza Strip, besieged by the Israeli army, AFP reported.

In a statement, the ministry denounced "a heinous massacre by the occupation against citizens and displaced persons," reporting that 20 people had been killed and more than 90 wounded transferred to Nasser hospital in Khan Younis.

⚡At around midday, an Israeli drone fired a missile at a van containing two people on the outskirts of Deir Mimas (Marjayoun). According to a security source quoted by our correspondent, the two passengers were killed in the strike. They were two residents of Kfar Kila: a member of the local municipal council and the son of a Hezbollah fighter killed at the start of the war. 

In the morning, Israeli artillery also fired white phosphorus shells at Odaisseh, according to local residents.

For its part, Hezbollah announced the death of one of its fighters, Mahdi Mohammad Kheireddine, born in 2000, originally from Hermel and living in Temnine al-Fawka, in the Bekaa. According to information from our correspondent, Mahdi Kheireddine was killed in yesterday's drone strike on the road between Mari and Rashaya al-Foukhar.

His death brings to 371 the number of Hezbollah members killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon and Syria since the clashes began on October 8, according to our count. 

In southern Lebanon, the night was also marked by Israeli bombardments, which left at least one person injured, according to security sources contacted by our correspondent:

- At around 9:30 p.m., Israeli aircraft bombed Kfar Kila. Rescue workers from the Islamic Mission Scouts Association later reported that they had extinguished a fire that had broken out in the village. A strike also targeted an area between Taybeh and Deir Sirian (Marjayoun). This second bombing wounded one person.

- At 10 p.m., an Israeli drone fired a missile at Khiam (Marjayoun), targeting a house that was totally destroyed. A fire broke out in the area.

- At 11 p.m., an Israeli air strike targeted Taybeh (Marjayoun). 

In Rafah, in the south of the Palestinian territory, "numerous tunnel entrances were dismantled" and "multiple Hamas terrorists were eliminated," while the air force targeted a warehouse where the paragliders used on Oct. 7 had been stored, according to the Israeli army quoted by AFP.

The Israeli army said it was continuing its operations in the Gaza Strip, particularly in Gaza City, where an AFP correspondent saw Israeli artillery and drone fire.

In the center of the Palestinian territory, a father, Mohammad Ali al-Rai, and his three daughters, aged between five and nine, were killed in an Israeli strike on their home in Deir el-Balah, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

Further north, witnesses yesterday saw soldiers withdrawing from certain areas of Gaza City, the main town in the Palestinian territory, where some 60 bodies were discovered in two areas ravaged by fighting, according to the Civil Defense.

Good morning! Thank you for joining us for today's live coverage of the Gaza war and its regional impacts.