Explosion Gazans say airstrike causes many casualties in close neighborhoods

An explosion overnight in a densely populated refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip destroyed several buildings and appeared to have killed and injured many people, photos and videos showed on Sunday.

The Gaza Health Ministry said an Israeli airstrike hit the Al Maghazi camp, killing at least 47 people and wounding dozens of others. It warned that the toll was expected to rise and said many bodies remained buried under rubble.

Victims were taken to the nearby Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where a photographer for The New York Times saw the wounded flowing through the hallways and the lifeless being prepared for burial.

A spokesman for the Israeli military said it was investigating reports of the attack.

Israel struck a neighborhood with a similar refugee camp last week in an attack that Hamas, the armed group that controls Gaza, and local doctors said killed or injured hundreds of people. The toll of that attack – which Israel said killed a Hamas leader and other operatives and hit a network of Hamas tunnels it said were under residential buildings – sparked international outrage.

On Sunday, Mohammed al-Aloul, a photographer for Anadolu Agency, a Turkish state news service, said he was at work when news and videos from Al Maghazi, his neighborhood, flooded his phone.

As he leafed through it, his worst fears became reality: four of his five children – Qais, Ahmad, Rahaf and Kenaan – were among the lifeless bodies pulled from the rubble.

A few hours later, Mr. al-Aloul led their funeral prayer at the entrance of Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital, still wearing his blue press vest as he looked at the small, shrouded bodies of the children. Behind him, more than a dozen men prayed, some of whom had also lost children.

At the hospital were his only surviving family members: his youngest, 1-year-old Adam, and his wife Amnah, who was in critical condition. Mr al-Aloul said he also lost several other family members during the strike.

Amnah suffered severe facial burns, broken bones and shrapnel wounds. When a photographer from The New York Times visited her in the hospital, she shared a single bed with her sister-in-law, who was also in serious condition.

The hospital, like most in Gaza, was overcrowded, meaning many injured people had to be treated in the corridors. Mr al-Aloul’s son, Adam, was among them, his face covered in shrapnel wounds.

According to UNRWA, the UN agency that helps Palestinians, the Al Maghazi camp is one of the smaller camps in Gaza, both in size and population. The agency – which runs the camps – said Al Maghazi was known for its “narrow alleys and high population density”, with 33,255 people living in 0.6 square kilometers.

Like the eight other refugee camps in Gaza, Al Maghazi has generally been built up since its founding in 1949, and houses Palestinians who fled or were expelled during the wars that surrounded Israel’s creation, along with their descendants.