Al Mawasi attack felt like earthquake, says survivor

Residents of Gaza 'safe zone' work with rescuers to find loved ones buried under sand after Israeli air strike kills 40

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Shaher’s family found his body 30 metres away from the tent where he had been sleeping when Israeli strikes hit a displacement camp in Gaza’s Al Mawasi area.

He was just one of at least 40 Palestinians killed in what Gaza’s civil defence has called “one of the most horrific massacres since the beginning of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip”.

Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians live in tents in Al Mawasi after fleeing or being ordered to leave other areas of Gaza. The Israeli army designated the southern coastal area a “safe zone” months ago, but has attacked it repeatedly.

The area hit before dawn on Tuesday contained about 200 tents, at least 40 of which were destroyed, civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal told The National.

The site, near the British Hospital, has been turned into a wasteland of bodies, charred and corrugated metal, collapsed tents and people’s belongings strewn throughout the sand. About 60 people were injured and dozens were missing after the attack, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.

Al Mawasi locator map

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Rescue workers searched for bodies in a massive crater – one of several, according to civil defence crews – that appeared to be almost 10 metres deep. Sand shifted beneath their feet as they clambered and dug through the crater’s steep incline.

“Entire families have disappeared into the sand,” Mr Bassal said. The civil defence lacks the equipment necessary for the scale of the operation, he added.

Israel said the targets of the attack were “significant” Hamas militants from a disguised command centre, but the group said this was a “clear lie”.

Shaher had “no affiliation with any organisation or faction. He was just a victim of everything that happened – a displaced person searching for safety”, his cousin, Mohammed Al Shaer, told The National.

People and their possessions were buried under sand thrown up by the impact of the air strikes, witnesses said. AP

Mr Al Shaer said people in the area were “all families, believing we were in a safe area according to the designation of the occupation army”.

He said Shaher, who left behind a wife and young daughter, was one of at least three relatives killed in the strikes. Two young cousins – Mira and Mohammed – were missing for hours until their bodies were discovered under the sand.

“We searched for them in the darkness,” Mr Al Shaer said. “But the digging [required] because of the shelling was too deep. The sand covered the bodies greatly, making it difficult to find them.”

Many victims are still buried under the sand, Mr Bassal said.

“Civil defence teams are making great efforts to search for them and recover their bodies, but the entire area is sandy,” he added. “Situations like this require extensive equipment and effort to rescue and retrieve the victims.”

Ali Abu Taima, 24, who lived in eastern Khan Younis before moving to Al Mawasi, said the ground shook with the impact of the strikes.

He had woken up at midnight to use the bathroom, “and suddenly it felt like an earthquake hit the area”, he told The National.

Palestinians look at the destruction caused by overnight Israeli strikes on a crowded encampment in Al Mawasi on Tuesday. AP

Within seconds, “shrapnel was scattered everywhere, bodies were flying, and sand covered the tents”, he said.

A piece of shrapnel hit him in the leg, causing a minor injury, even though he was 200 metres away from the site of the impact.

“It’s is not the first time I was injured during this war,” Mr Abu Taima said. “I was injured about a month ago, when there was shelling near Khan Younis. I don't know if I will survive the next time … Israel is not planning to stop its massacres.

“Many people were injured and martyred, and they were not at fault. The world is still silent until today, no one is speaking out for us.”