15 civilians killed by Israeli fire in Gaza’s Al-Mawasi: Civil defence
Gaza: On Tuesday, Gaza’s civil defence spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal stated that at least 15 people were killed when Israeli military forces opened fire using tanks and drones near the Al-Alam roundabout in the Al-Mawasi zone, close to Rafah.
Al-Mawasi is located in southern Gaza and has been used as a gathering point for displaced civilians.
Bassal described the incident as an unprovoked targeting of civilians who had assembled in large numbers from early morning. The exact nature of the gathering has not been confirmed, and no independent agency has yet verified the casualty figures.
The Israeli army confirmed separately that three IDF soldiers were killed in action in northern Gaza, though no direct statement has been issued regarding the Rafah strike.
With this, the Israeli military's official death toll since the Gaza operation began has risen to 424. The conflict has continued for months following the collapse of ceasefire talks and remains a point of international concern, particularly due to high civilian casualty reports from Palestinian sources.
Israel has maintained that it targets only militants and infrastructure used by groups like Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, but incidents involving civilian zones have sparked widespread criticism.
The UN and other international observers have previously warned about humanitarian conditions in Al-Mawasi and Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are internally displaced and face restricted access to aid.
Further verification of the latest attack and its implications is awaited.
(With AP inputs)