At least 40 people were killed and 60 others wounded in an Israeli attack on a Gaza humanitarian zone. Gaza’s civil defense agency was reporting “heavy casualties” early Tuesday, claiming the strike hit those being housed after being displaced by the war.

The Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone in Khan Yuni in the southern Gaza Strip was significantly damaged with “large craters” showing in the area, according to a report by the Times of India. 

Civil defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal was quoted as saying: “Entire families disappeared in the Mawasi Khan Yunis massacre, under the sand, in deep holes.”

Another civil defense official, Mohammed Al-Mughair, said that the 60 people who were wounded were sent to nearby hospitals.

Did Israel Deliberately Destroy All Of Gaza’s Hospitals?

Rescue crews are continuing to search for missing or deceased people among the rubble. Rescue teams continue to look for 15 people still trapped underneath all of the debris.

Israel responded to the allegations by saying that the strike was actually on a Hamas command center within the humanitarian zone. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) accused Hamas of constantly and “systematically abusing civilian and humanitarian infrastructure” to carry out attacks against the Jewish state.

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Hamas has dismissed Israel’s claim as a “blatant lie.”

This war hasn’t really expanded in the way many expected it to. Could one of these supposed attacks on humanitarian centers be the proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back and flings the globe into another world war? Nothing so far has made this conflict spread more widely, however, that is not to say that it won’t eventually jump the line.

Over 40,000 Palestinians Have Died In the Israel-Gaza War

Just three days ago, mainstream media outlets reported that 33 Palestinians died in an Israeli army attack on the homes of civilians.