Sawt Falasteen - Israel says targeted Hamas military chief, Gaza ministry reports dozens dead

The Israeli military said it had targeted Deif and Rafa Salama, a brigade commander, calling them "two of the masterminds of the October 7 massacre" which sparked the war, now in its 10th month.

The deaths in Al-Mawasi, an Israeli-designated "safe zone" where aid groups said hundreds of thousands of people were sheltering, drew condemnation from regional governments including Jordan, Iran and Egypt.

Cairo's foreign ministry said such "crimes... cannot be accepted under any justification whatsoever".

The health ministry in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip said there were at least "71 martyrs" and 289 people wounded in what it called a "brutal massacre by the occupation", a reference to Israel, at Al-Mawasi.

AFP could not independently confirm the toll.

The Israeli military said of its attack targeting Deif -- whose fate remains unclear -- that "the area that was struck is an open area, surrounded by trees, several buildings and sheds. It was not a tent complex, but an operational compound".

A Hamas statement rejected Israel's claim it had targeted Deif, saying it was intended "to cover up the magnitude of the horrific massacre".

Further north, heavy fighting has raged for weeks in and around Gaza City.

On Saturday the Al-Ahli hospital said 17 people were killed and several injured in a strike on the nearby Al-Shati refugee camp.

In Al-Mawasi, AFPTV footage showed sirens wailing and smoke rising in the distance as men used blankets to collect victims. Some were clearly beyond help and lay dead on the road.

"What did we do?" a woman screamed in the street. "What did we do? We were just sitting near the beach."

- 'Many bodies' -

Israel in May had told Palestinians in the Rafah area to move to a designated humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi, on the besieged territory's Mediterranean coast, as troops moved into the southern city near the Egyptian border.

Since then, Israel has been accused of killing civilians in attacks on or near Al-Mawasi, including one in May which was blamed for starting a fire in a tent city that killed 45 people.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had "issued a standing order to eliminate senior Hamas officials at the beginning of the war".

It added that Netanyahu would hold meetings with security and military officials "to discuss the next developments and steps" following the strike.

An Israeli security source said that "the operation was approved last night" after intelligence suggested Deif was present and "there were no hostages with him".

The source, requesting anonymity, said the strike showed Israel "will continue to target senior Hamas leadership" even as it "pursues negotiations for a hostage agreement".

Gaza's civil defence agency said heavy shelling was preventing its teams from reaching the "many bodies" scattered in the streets.

"Every time people tried to get close to rescue others, they would strike," said Palestinian man Mahmud Abu Akar.

In Israel, anti-government demonstrators were again expected to rally later Saturday demanding a deal to free hostages still held in Gaza, with a four-day protest march from Tel Aviv set to reach Jerusalem.

The war started with Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel which resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

The militants also seized 251 hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza, including 42 the military says are dead.

Israel responded with a military offensive that has killed at least 38,443 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to a toll from the Gaza health ministry issued Saturday afternoon.

- 'Pressure' -

Israel and Hamas have engaged in months of indirect talks via Qatari, US and Egyptian mediators to reach a still elusive truce and hostage release deal.

Talks took place in Doha and in Cairo this week.

Netanyahu continues to insist that any deal must allow Israel to meet its war aims -- destroying Hamas as well as bringing home all the hostages.

US President Joe Biden has outlined what he called an Israeli plan for a six-week truce in which hostages would be freed in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli prisons. A second phase would see talks on a full end to the war.

On Thursday, he said: "That framework is now agreed on by both Israel and Hamas.

"There are still gaps to close, but we're making progress, the trend is positive, and I'm determined to get this deal done and bring an end to this war, which should end now."

Biden again pressed Israel for a "day-after" plan for Gaza and spoke of diplomatic efforts to persuade Arab states to help with security.

Hossam Badran, a member of Hamas's political bureau, said the group had proposed an independent and non-partisan government for both post-war Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority is based.

On Saturday, Hamas official Bassem Naim said Netanyahu was the one "hindering the achievement of an agreement" and called on Biden to put "sufficient pressure" on the Israeli leader to secure a deal.

A.Suleiman--SF-PST