By WAFAA SHURAFA

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — A Palestinian health official said Wednesday that at least 21 people were killed by an Israeli strike on a camp housing displaced people in Gaza.

Atif Al-Hout, the director of Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis said 28 people were wounded.

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The Israeli military said its aircraft struck senior Hamas fighters “involved in terrorist activities” in the area. The military said that the strike had set off secondary explosions, indicating explosives present in the area were set off. It was not possible to independently confirm the Israeli claims, and the strike could also have ignited fuel, cooking gas canisters or other materials in the camp.

Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

The strike in the Muwasi area, a sprawling coastal camp housing hundreds of thousands of displaced people, near the southern city of Khan Younis, came after Israeli forces struck targets in other areas of the Palestinian enclave. Earlier strikes on central Gaza killed eight people, including four children.

Israel’s war in Gaza began when Hamas-led terrorists attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 people. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Israel’s offensive has killed over 44,500 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many were combatants. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.

Israel says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames Hamas for their deaths because the fighters often operate in residential areas and are known to position tunnels, rocket launchers and other infrastructure near homes, schools and mosques.