Israeli airstrike kills at least 10 in southern Gaza, medics say

CAIRO: An Israeli airstrike killed at least 10 Palestinians in a tent encampment sheltering displaced families in the southern Gaza strip early on Thursday, medics said.

The 10 people, including women and children, were killed in a tent in Al-Mawasi, designated as a humanitarian area in western Khan Younis, according to the medics.

Fifteen people were also wounded, the medics added. The Israeli military has not immediately commented.

The director-general of Gaza's police department Mahmoud Salah and his aide Hussam Shahwan were killed in the airstrike, Hamas-run Al-Aqsa TV reported.

Israel has killed more than 45,500 Palestinians in the war in Gaza, according to health officials in the enclave. Most of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been displaced and much of the tiny coastal strip is in ruins.

The war was triggered by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and another 251 taken hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.