The Israeli army has used powerful bombs supplied by the US to strike a “humanitarian safe zone” in southern Gaza, burying entire families, a Geneva-based human rights group said.
At least 40 Palestinians were killed and dozens injured in Israeli air strikes early Tuesday on a refugee tent camp in Khan Younis in al-Mawasi area, which Israel has designated as a “humanitarian zone” for displaced civilians in Gaza.
Gaza’s civil defence service said the Israeli missiles caused craters as deep as nine metres in the area.
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said Israeli warplanes dropped three US-made 900 kg, MK-84 bombs on a tent camp in al-Mawasi at midnight as civilians were sleeping.
According to several media reports, the US transferred more than 14,000 MK-84 bombs to Israel in 2023 and 2024.
The use of US artillery, weapons and bombs by Israel against Palestinians running for their lives, coerced to relocate to so-called safe humanitarian zones and then attacked during night time, proves America's complacency in the Palestinian genocide.
“The bombs caused craters as deep as several meters, burying about 20 tents with families inside,” the rights group said in a statement.
“Many tents, with entire families inside, were buried under the sand,” it added.
Euro-Med said international silence was encouraging Israel to commit more “crimes” against Palestinians.
“The silence and disregard for such unprecedented massacres in the history of war is shameful and constitutes a green light for Israel to continue committing them within a clear approach to mass killing and eliminating Palestinians,” it said.
“The US is a partner in this crime, as it supplies the Israeli army with weapons and destructive bombs despite knowing that they are used to kill hundreds of civilians every time,” it added.
Last month, at least 100 people were killed and dozens injured in an Israeli strike on the Al-Taba’een School in Gaza City, where over 6,000 displaced people have sheltered.
Israel has systematically targeted civilian facilities, including schools, hospitals, and places of worship, amid its ongoing offensive on Gaza despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire.
Under the rules of war, targeting such civilian facilities can constitute a war crime.
