Gaza's Civil Defense reported on Sunday that 21 people were killed in an Israeli strike on a mosque turned shelter for the displaced in Deir al-Balah (central), with the Israeli army explaining that they targeted fighters of the Palestinian Hamas movement.
"The number of deaths has risen to 21 and there is a large number of injured following the bombardment by the (Israeli) army of a mosque housing displaced persons in front of the entrance to the Al-Aqsa martyrs' hospital in Deir al-Balah, in the center of the Gaza Strip," said Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal.
The Israeli army explained in a statement that it had "conducted a precise strike on Hamas terrorists who were operating in a command and control center located in a structure that previously served as the ‘Shuhada al-Aqsa’ mosque in the Deir al-Balah area."
The war in Gaza was triggered by an unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the death of 1,205 people, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures, including hostages dead or killed in captivity in the Gaza Strip. During the retaliatory offensive led by Israel, at least 41,825 Palestinians were killed in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas government health ministry published on Saturday, therefore not taking into account this latest strike. These data are considered reliable by the UN.
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