Palestinians who were trying to move to the southern part of the Gaza Strip, passing through an area that the Israeli army presented as safe, were killed in Israeli strikes, eyewitnesses and Hamas officials said on Saturday.

The Israeli military is shelling the Gaza Strip in retaliation for a deadly attack launched on October 7 in southern Israel by the military wing of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement in power in the enclave.

Last Friday, Israeli army spokesman Avihai Andrai urged Gazans to head to the southern part of the tiny enclave, along the Gaza Wadi Water, “for their safety”, adding that there would be no strikes by the Israeli army. there before 20:00.

But Hamas officials said Palestinian civilians were killed in the sector despite moving within the deadline.

According to the health ministry and the Hamas press service, dozens of civilians trying to flee to southern Gaza were killed in at least three locations after noon on Friday.

Yesterday Saturday, an AFP eyewitness said that “a truck carrying dozens of families was hit near Wadi Gaza”.

When contacted by AFP, the Israeli military did not comment on the report.

The agency notes that it was unable to independently verify whether the deaths were due to Israeli military strikes.

He was able to confirm images circulating on social media sites that corresponded to eyewitness accounts on Friday, but could not confirm that the explosions were caused by Israeli fire.

“Two vehicles were hit near a Kuwaiti hospital in the southern part of Gaza City,” a source close to Hamas’ security forces said on condition of anonymity.

Tal Heinrich, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, told reporters on Saturday that the army was taking “every precaution” to avoid civilian deaths.

Hamas reported yesterday Saturday that “70 martyrs” and 200 wounded, including women and children, were counted in “Israel’s massacre” targeting displaced families, a “hate crime”.

Since the outbreak of war on October 7, at least 2,500 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 700 children.

At least 1,300 people have been killed in Israel, most of them in the attack launched by Hamas last Saturday, according to Israeli officials.