At least 40 dead in Israeli attack in humanitarian zone in Gaza Strip

At least 40 people were killed and 60 wounded, local news agency WAFA reported, in an Israeli strike early Tuesday that left craters up to 10 meters deep in a humanitarian zone in the Gaza Strip. Israel denied the death toll and said it targeted “significant” Hamas militants.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war between Israel and Hamas began. The count does not distinguish between fighters and civilians. The war has caused enormous destruction and around 90 percent of Gaza's 2.3 million inhabitants have had to flee their homes, often several times.

In their attack on October 7, the Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Another 250 were kidnapped and about 100 are still being held. Most of the remaining hostages were released in exchange for Palestinians held by Israel during a week-long ceasefire last November. About a third of the remaining hostages are believed dead.

Here is the latest information:

An Israeli attack on a humanitarian site in Gaza kills and injures dozens, Palestinians say

JERUSALEM – An Israeli attack on a crowded tent camp for Palestinians displaced from Gaza by the war killed at least 40 people and wounded 60 others early Tuesday morning, Palestinian officials said. Israel said it targeted “significant” Hamas militants but denied the death toll.

It was one of the deadliest attacks yet in Muwasi, a cluster of overcrowded tent camps along the Gaza Strip coast that Israel has declared a humanitarian zone where hundreds of thousands of civilians seek shelter from the war between Israel and Hamas.

Gaza's civil defense said its forces had recovered 40 bodies from the attack and were still searching for people. It said entire families had been killed in their tents.

An Associated Press cameraman spotted three large craters at the site of the accident, where rescue workers and displaced people were searching through sand and rubble with gardening tools and their bare hands, using the light from their cell phones.

The Israeli military said it attacked Hamas fighters operating in a command and control center. It said its forces used precision weapons, aerial surveillance and other means to avoid civilian casualties. Hamas issued a statement denying that there were any fighters in the area. Neither Israel nor Hamas provided evidence to back up their claims.

According to UN agency, Israeli military stops aid convoy for eight hours

JERUSALEM – The UN agency responsible for aiding displaced Palestinians said the Israeli military held up a convoy for more than eight hours on Monday despite coordination with the troops.

The agency's director, Philippe Lazzarini, said the detained staff were trying to participate in a polio vaccination campaign in northern Gaza and Gaza City.

“The convoy was stopped at gunpoint just past the Wadi Gaza checkpoint and there were threats to arrest UN staff,” he wrote on the social platform X. “Bulldozers inflicted severe damage on the UN armored vehicles.”

He said the staff and convoy later returned to a UN base, but it was unclear whether a polio vaccination campaign would take place in northern Gaza on Tuesday.

“UN staff must be able to carry out their duties in safety and be protected at all times in accordance with international humanitarian law,” he wrote. “It is no different in Gaza.”

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The vaccination campaign was launched after doctors in the Palestinian enclave identified the first case of polio in 25 years. The aim is to vaccinate 640,000 children during a war that has devastated the health system.