At least 90 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 300 injured in an Israeli attack on a camp in al-Mawasi outside the city of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, according to several media reports.
The Hamas-controlled Palestinian health department condemns the attack in a statement, calling it a "brutal massacre".
The attack was directed at Hamas leader Mohammed Deif and another Hamas leader, Rafa Salama, who were reportedly in a building in the area, but not directly in the camp.
The two are considered by the Israeli military to be the "masterminds behind the massacre on October 7th". However, it is unclear whether either of them was killed in the attack.
It's not entirely certain, says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a televised speech on Saturday evening.
He promises, however, that Israel will eliminate the entire upper leadership of Hamas, "one way or another".
Netanyahu says he personally gave his approval for the attack, but only after receiving assurances from the military, IDF, that no hostages were present at the site.
Egypt and Jordan have condemned the attack. Egypt's foreign ministry writes that "there is no justification whatsoever" for the attack.
"Nine lives"
Deif has led the military wing of Hamas since the early 2000s and is called both "the cat with nine lives" because he has survived numerous assassination attempts over the years and "the guest" because he leads a secretive life and is said to sleep in different places every night.
Hamas rejects the explanation that Deif was the target as "false" and a way to "cover up the extent of a horrific massacre".
After the attack, the IDF has raised the threat level "on all fronts". Several IDF employees on leave have been called in for reinforcement at the border with Gaza, writes Jerusalem Post.
Urged to seek shelter
In May, Israel urged Palestinians in the Rafah area to seek shelter in al-Mawasi on the coast, while Israeli forces entered Rafah.
What have we done? We were just sitting near the beach, screamed a woman on the street after the attack.
Many of the injured have been taken to Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, which has been on the brink of collapse since earlier.
The war between the terrorist-listed Hamas and Israel broke out after Hamas attacked a music festival and kibbutzim in Israel on October 7th last year. Around 1,150 people are estimated to have fallen victim to the terrorist attack, most of them civilians, and over 200 people were taken hostage.
Over 38,000 people in Gaza have been killed since the war began, according to Hamas-controlled health authorities.
