At least 40 dead in Israeli strike on designated safe zone in Gaza

More 40 people were killed in an Israeli strike on a crowded designated humanitarian safe zone for displaced Palestinians in Gaza on Tuesday.

It is being reported that at least four missiles hit the tent encampment of Al-Mawasi near Khan Younis in the early hours of the morning.

The attack, which wounded at least 60 others, set tents ablaze and left several craters as deep as nine metres.

Israel said it targeted what it claims was a “significant” number of Hamas militants operating in the area.

The group has denied Israeli allegations that gunmen were present at the strip of land along the coastline, calling it a “blatant lie”.

Neither Israel nor Hamas provided evidence to substantiate their claims.

There have been a number of deadly Israeli attacks this year on the Al-Mawasi area, which aid agencies say is now home to more than 380 thousand people.

Civil defence teams are continuing to search for victims who may be buried under the sand. It said entire families were killed in their tents.

Attaf al-Shaar, who was displaced from the southern city of Rafah, said the strike happened just after midnight and caused a fire.

“The people were buried in the sand. They were retrieved as body parts," she told an reporter at the scene.

Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, one of three hospitals to receive casualties, said around two dozen bodies were brought in from the strike.

Israeli evacuation orders now cover around 90 per cent of the territory.

Nearly all of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been forced from their homes at least once, and some have had to flee as many as 10 times.

The war was triggered on 7 October when Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's subsequent offensive on Gaza, according to the enclave's health ministry.

The United States, Egypt and Qatar have spent much of this year trying to broker an agreement for a ceasefire and the release of the hostages.

However, talks have repeatedly bogged down as Israel and Hamas accuse each other of making new and unacceptable demands.

The war has plunged Gaza into a humanitarian crisis, and humanitarian groups have struggled to provide aid because of ongoing fighting, Israeli restrictions, and the breakdown of law and order.

The main United Nations agency providing aid to Palestinians said Israeli troops stopped a convoy taking part in a polio vaccination campaign for more than eight hours on Monday, despite it coordinating with the military.

UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini said the staff who were held had been taking part in the campaign in northern Gaza and Gaza City.

He said the convoy later returned to a UN base, but it was unclear if the vaccination campaign would take place Tuesday in northern Gaza.

The immunisation drive was launched after doctors discovered the first polio case in the enclave in 25 years.

It hopes to vaccinate 640,000 children.