Gaza: An Israeli missile struck a tent encampment in southern Gaza on Tuesday, just as displaced individuals had gathered to watch a football match at a school, according to eyewitnesses who spoke on Wednesday. Palestinian officials reported that at least 29 people, predominantly women and children, were killed in the strike. The incident occurred as spectators crowded the school grounds in Abassan, east of Khan Younis, where vendors were selling smoothies and biscuits.
“They were watching a football match. There were injuries and martyrs. I witnessed this…people thrown around and body parts scattered, blood,” said Ghazzal Nasser, a young woman from Abassan, in an interview with Reuters.
“Everything was normal. People were playing, others were buying and selling (food and drinks). There was no sound of planes or anything,” she added.
The Israeli military stated that it is reviewing reports of civilian casualties. It claimed the strike targeted a Hamas fighter involved in an October 7 raid on Israel that sparked the ongoing conflict, using “precise munition.”
The military did not immediately respond to inquiries about its awareness of the football match at the time of the strike.
At Nasser Hospital nearby, grieving Palestinians prepared for funerals and burials.
“The schools were overcrowded with people and the street was full too, suddenly a missile hit and destroyed the whole place,” recounted Asmaa Qudeih, who lost several relatives in the attack.
“Bodies flew in the wind, body parts flew, I don’t know how to describe it,” she added.
Israeli forces intensified their offensive in north and central Gaza, expanding their incursion into two districts of Gaza City. Reports from residents described house-to-house searches and tank shelling of homes.
Hamas warned that the escalated Israeli campaign jeopardized ceasefire negotiations scheduled to resume in Doha on Wednesday.
Israeli leaflets dropped over Gaza City marked “safe routes” for city-wide evacuation, urging civilians to head south to central Gaza.
Despite extensive destruction, many Gazans have returned to their homes in recent months following last year’s initial assault.
Israeli military operations in Gaza City focused on Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants allegedly using UNRWA facilities for attacks. The military claimed to have neutralized terrorists and seized weapons following an operation in the area.
The Palestinian Red Crescent reported numerous pleas for assistance from trapped residents in Gaza City amid heavy bombing, though rescue efforts were hindered.
“Occupation forces continue to hit residential districts, displacing people from their homes and refuge shelters,” the organization stated.
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Hamas and Islamic Jihad’s armed wings engaged Israeli forces with anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs, alongside close-range combat in some instances.
The Israeli military confirmed the death of one soldier in Tuesday’s central Gaza fighting. Since October 7, the military reported 681 casualties among its personnel.
Israel’s Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, asserted that 60% of Hamas fighters had been killed or wounded in the ongoing offensive.
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In Al-Nuseirat, central Gaza, medics reported six Palestinians, including children, killed in an early Wednesday airstrike on a house, while another airstrike in Khan Younis resulted in two deaths and multiple injuries.
Health officials in Hamas-governed Gaza reported more than 38,000 Palestinian fatalities since the conflict began.
The war erupted when Hamas militants infiltrated southern Israel on October 7, resulting in Israeli casualties and retaliatory military action.
