Middle East latest: An Israeli strike on a Gaza tent camp kills at least 21 people

An Israeli strike on a tent camp housing displaced people in southern Gaza killed at least 21 people and wounded 28 on Wednesday, said the director of Nasser Hospital, Atif al-Hout, in the nearby city of Khan Younis. The Israeli military said its aircraft struck senior Hamas militants “involved in terrorist activities” in the area.

At least 15 bodies arrived at the hospital, but reaching a precise number of dead was difficult because many were dismembered, some without heads or badly burned. The strike hit in the Muwasi area, a sprawling coastal camp housing hundreds of thousands of displaced people. Earlier strikes elsewhere in Gaza killed eight people, including four children, health officials said.

Israel's war against Hamas has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced 90% of the population of 2.3 million, often multiple times.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 people hostage.

Israel’s blistering retaliatory offensive has killed at least 44,500 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.