The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says at least 71 Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli air strike on a designated humanitarian area, in an attack which Israel says targeted senior Hamas leaders.

More than 289 people were injured, according to the health ministry’s statement.

The strike hit the al-Mawasi area near Khan Younis, which the Israeli military has designated as a humanitarian zone, urging Palestinians to seek shelter there.

An Israeli military official said he did not know how many people died in the strike and would not say if the two Hamas men were among those killed or wounded.

He said the strike targeted the head of Hamas’s military wing, Mohammed Deif – a top target for Israel’s military – and took place in an “open area” where there were “no civilians”.

He refused to say whether it was inside a designated safe zone, but said Hamas leaders had “cynically” set up in a civilian area.

BBC Verify has analysed footage of the aftermath of the strike, confirming that it took place within an area shown on the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) website as a humanitarian zone.

The official also said he was unaware of any hostages taken during the 7 October attack on Israel being in the area.

Rafa Salama, the Hamas commander for Khan Younis, was also targeted in the strike, the official said, adding that “accurate intelligence” was gathered before the “precision strike”.

Hamas said the claim that their leaders were targets is “false”.

“It is not the first time Israel claims to target Palestinian leaders, only to be proven false later,” the group said in a statement.

An eyewitness in al-Mawasi told the BBC that the site of the strike looked like an “earthquake” had hit, and videos from the area show smouldering wreckage and bloodied casualties being loaded onto stretchers. People can be seen trying desperately to pick through the rubble of a large crater with their hands.

Who are Mohammed Deif and the other top Hamas leaders?

One of the doctors at a hospital dealing with the aftermath of the attack has told the BBC it is “one of the black days”.

Speaking to Newshour on the BBC World Service, Dr Mohammed Abu Rayya said the majority of cases coming in were dead, with others suffering from multiple shrapnel wounds.

He said It was like being in “hell”, adding that many of the casualties were civilians, notably women and children.

Footage from the nearby Kuwait field hospital showed scenes of chaos with patients being treated on the floor.

The Nasser medical complex in Khan Younis is “overwhelmed” and no longer able to function, said British charity Medical Aid for Palestinians.

On Wednesday, the Israeli military told all residents of Gaza City to evacuate south to the central Gaza Strip, amid intensified operations in the north.

Who is Mohammed Deif?

Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas’s military wing the al-Qassam Brigades, is one of Israel’s most wanted men.

He has near-mythical status in Gaza after escaping capture and surviving several assassination attempts, including one in 2002 when he lost an eye.

He was Imprisoned by Israeli authorities in 1989, after which he formed the Brigades with the aim of capturing Israeli soldiers.

Israel accuses him of planning and supervising bus bombings which killed tens of Israelis in 1996, and of involvement in the capture and killing of three Israeli soldiers in the mid-1990s.

It Is thought he was one of the masterminds behind the 7 October Hamas attack, when about 1,200 Israelis and foreigners – mostly civilians – were killed and 251 others were taken back to Gaza as hostages.

It led to the major Israeli military operation in Gaza which has killed more than 38,400 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

A Hamas official, cited by Reuters, called Saturday’s attack a “grave escalation” that showed Israel was not interested in reaching a ceasefire agreement.

The ceasefire negotiations being held in Qatar and Egypt ended on Friday without success, the BBC understands. (BBC)

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