More than 50 Palestinians were killed and several others injured in a series of air strikes by Israel in south and central parts of Gaza, reports said.
They quoted the Hamas-run health ministry as saying that one of the deadliest attacks occurred in the recently designated humanitarian zone of al-Mawasi in Khan Younis.
UN-run school housing displaced people in Nuseirat refugee camp, in central Gaza was also hit reportedly.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said that the strikes had targeted members of Palestinian armed groups and that it was looking into reports of civilian casualties.
Israeli authorities said that half a number of Hamas’s military wing fighters have been killed and thousands of ‘’terrorists” killed or detained during nine months of Israeli air strikes and ground operations in Gaza.
A military campaign was launched by Israel to destroy Hamas after it attacked the country on 7 October, during which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
Over 38,000 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
This includes 14,680 children, women and elderly people, who were killed by the end of April.
Videos on social media showed people lifting bodies onto a lorry, and wounded people being treated at the nearby Nasser hospital.
Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that an aircraft had “struck a company commander in Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s naval unit in western Khan Younis.
“We are looking into the reports stating that several civilians were injured as a result of the strike,” it said.
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They have designated al-Mawasi as a humanitarian zone for people fleeing areas of active combat elsewhere in Gaza.
The reported attack took place three days after Israel targeted the head of Hamas’s military wing in the same area, killing dozens of people.
It is unclear whether Mohammed Deif survived, but Israel says it has confirmed that another senior commander was killed.
