The Israeli army used massive bombs supplied by the US to strike a “humanitarian safe zone” in the southern Gaza Strip, burying entire families, a Geneva-based human rights group said on Tuesday.
At least 40 people were killed and dozens injured in Israeli airstrikes early Tuesday on a 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 defense service said the Israeli missiles caused craters as deep as nine meters (30 feet) in the area.
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said Israeli warplanes dropped three US-made 2,000-pound (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, in 2023 and 2024, more than 14,000 MK-84 bombs to Israel.
“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 wars…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 the Gaza Strip despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.
Under the rules of war, targeting such civilian facilities can constitute a war crime.
The Israeli onslaught has killed nearly 41,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured 94,800 others, according to local health authorities.
An ongoing blockade of the enclave has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine, leaving much of the region in ruins.
Israel faces accusations of genocide for its actions in Gaza at the International Court of Justice.