22 killed in Israeli strike on mosque in Gaza City camp

At least 22 people were killed in a strike carried out by Israeli forces on Saturday at a makeshift mosque in a displacement camp in west Gaza City, CNN reported quoting an official at the hospital treating the casualties.

The head of the emergency room of Al-Ahli Hospital, Dr. Amjad Elewa, told CNN that 20 men were killed in the strike on the field mosque in Al Shati camp, and two more men died on Sunday in the hospital from their injuries.

The spokesman for Gaza’s Civil Defense Mahmoud Basal told CNN that the bombing happened “in the middle of the noon prayer.” He added that all the injuries are serious cases and required amputation operations.

Video of the scene shows bodies lying on what appear to be mats laid out for prayer. Multiple dead and wounded people can be seen missing limbs.

The UN Human Rights Office also commented on the incident in its daily briefing on Saturday, saying, “Around 1300 hours, the IDF reportedly struck a makeshift mosque inside Ash Al Shati’ Refugee Camp, west Gaza City. Reports indicate that because the IDF struck shortly after the noon prayer, many people were still inside or near the mosque.”

“The IDF has not made any comments on the incident so far. There was no report of a prior warning for either of the attacks,” UN OHCHR said, also referring to an Israeli strike on a displacement camp in southern Gaza, which Israel said targeted Hamas’ military chief who was an alleged mastermind of the October 7 attacks.