Germany says deadly Israel attack on Khan Yunis safe zone may be justified

Germany, on Monday, suggested a deadly Israeli attack on a humanitarian safe zone near the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis could be justified, Anadolu Agency reports.

The strike that hit the densely populated Al-Mawasi on Saturday killed at least 90 people and wounded many more. Israel said the strike targeted Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas military wing.

Asked at a press briefing whether the Israeli air assault was justified, given the fact that it killed dozens of people, among them women and children, Foreign Ministry spokesman, Sebastian Fischer, said: “I don’t think that’s an easy question to answer because, for example, we don’t know how many of the victims were terrorists.”

“Perhaps we first have to state again that the Israeli airstrike on Saturday at noon was, I believe, aimed at Hamas military chief, Mohammed Deif, and also Rafa Salama, the commander of the Khan Yunis Brigades,” he added.

READ: Israel army retracts claim it killed Al-Qassam commander Deif in Mawasi massacre

Fischer said he was “not able to assess” whether Israel was using proportional violence in the lethal attack.

The German diplomat urged also both war parties once again to return to ceasefire talks.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since a 7 October, 2023 attack by Hamas.

Nearly 38,600 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and around 88,900 injured, according to local health authorities.

More than nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its military operation in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on 6 May.

READ: ‘Smell of blood’ fills Gaza hospital after deadly Israeli strike: UN agency