At least 40 killed, more than 60 wounded in Israeli attack on Gaza tent camp
Al-Mawasi: At least 40 people have been killed and more than 60 injured in an Israeli attack on a tent encampment for displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza, the enclave's civil emergency service said on Tuesday.
The civil emergency service reported that the strike in al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis caused severe destruction, igniting at least 20 tents and creating craters up to nine metres deep, as mentioned by Reuters. The camp, heavily overcrowded with displaced Palestinians, was struck despite its designation as a humanitarian zone.
According to the news agency, residents mentioned that ambulances raced between the tent camp and a nearby hospital, while Israeli jets could still be heard overhead.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said it struck “significant Hamas terrorists” who had been operating at a command and control centre embedded inside the humanitarian area in Khan Younis.
However, Hamas has strongly disputed these claims by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and accused them of lying to justify their crimes. "The resistance has denied several times that any of its members exist within civilian gatherings or are using these places for military purposes," Hamas stated.
Footage circulating on social media showed deep craters at the site of the attack, the strewn ruins around it covered in shredded tents, a bicycle and other debris. Rescue workers used shovels to shift through the sand. Bystanders used their hands to dig, illuminated by mobile phone light. At least one crater at the site looked to be as deep as 10 metres.
Mawasi is an area 1 kilometre wide and 14 kilometres long. Palestinians who fled other areas have crowded into the sandy beach area against the Mediterranean Sea after Israel told them it would be safe. However, aid groups have struggled to provide care there among a sea of tents crowded with the belongings families were able to carry away with them when fleeing their homes.
The war has caused vast destruction and displaced around 90 per cent of Gaza's population of 2.3 million, often multiple times.
Gaza's Health Ministry says over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began
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South African police arrest suspect in mass shooting that killed 12, including 3 children
Johannesburg (AP): A 32-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting which claimed the lives of 12 people including three children at an unlicensed pub earlier this month, South African police said on Monday.
The man is suspected of being one of the three people who opened fire on patrons in a pub at Saulsville township, west of South Africa's capital Pretoria, killing 12 people including three children aged 3, 12 and 16.
At least 13 people were also injured during the attack, whose motive remains unknown.
According to the police, the suspect was arrested on Sunday while traveling to Botlokwa in Limpopo province, more than 340 km from where the mass shooting took place on Dec 6.
An unlicensed firearm believed to have been used during the attack was recovered from the suspect's vehicle.
“The 32-year-old suspect was intercepted by Limpopo Tracking Team on the R101 Road in Westenburg precinct. During the arrest, the team recovered an unlicensed firearm, a hand gun, believed to have been used in the commission of the multiple murders. The firearm will be taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory for ballistic analysis,” police said in statement.
The suspect was arrested on the same day that another mass shooting at a pub took place in the Bekkersdal township, west of Johannesburg, in which nine people were killed and 10 wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on patrons.
Police have since launched a search for the suspects.
South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world and recorded more than 26,000 homicides in 2024 — an average of more than 70 a day. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides.
The country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun ownership laws, but many killings are committed with illegal guns, according to authorities.
According to police, mass shootings at unlicensed bars are becoming a serious problem. Police shut down more than 11,000 illegal taverns between April and September this year and arrested more than 18,000 people for involvement in illegal liquor sales.
