At least 71 Palestinians killed, Gaza officials say, as Israel targets Hamas military chief

An Israeli airstrike killed at least 71 Palestinians in a designated humanitarian zone in Gaza on Saturday, the enclave's health ministry said, in an attack that Israel said targeted Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif.

It was unclear whether Deif was killed. "We are still checking and verifying the results of the strike," an Israeli military official told reporters.

The militant Islamist group Hamas said in a statement that Israeli claims it had targeted leaders of the group were false and aimed at justifying the attack, which was the deadliest Israeli attack in Gaza in weeks.

The Israeli military said the strike against Deif also targeted Rafa Salama, the commander of Hamas' Khan Younis Brigade, describing them as two of the masterminds of the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that triggered the nine-month war in Gaza.

Deif has survived seven Israeli assassination attempts, the most recent in 2021 and has topped Israel's most wanted list for decades, held responsible for the deaths of dozens of Israelis in suicide bombings.

The Hamas ‘health ministry’ said at least 71 Palestinians were killed in the strike and 289 injured, the deadliest toll in weeks in the conflict-shattered enclave.

The Israeli military official said the area was not a tent complex, but an operational compound run by Hamas and that several more militants were there, guarding Deif.

It was unclear how the strike would affect ceasefire talks underway in Doha and Cairo.

"Maybe it's good, maybe it's not good. I don't know about Mohammed Deif, I know that keeping the war is bad for all of us," said Ayala Metzger, the daughter-in-law of an Israeli hostage who was taking part in a hostage solidarity march just outside Jerusalem on Saturday.

"We need to bring the hostages back," she told Reuters.

"If (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu killed Mohammed Deif then he has his picture of victory so bring them back now."