STORY: Displaced Palestinians flee, ambulances race amidst clouds of smoke and dust....
after an Israeli airstrike on Saturday hit the designated humanitarian zone of Al-Mawasi in Khan Younis, Gaza's health ministry said.
Officials say more than 70 Palestinians were killed in the attack, with hundreds more injured.
Many were brought to Nasser hospital in Khan Younis.
Israel said the airstrike was targeting Hamas' military chief Mohammed Deif, as well as Rafa Salama, the commander of Hamas' Khan Younis Brigade.
It was unclear whether Deif was killed, an Israeli military official said.
A senior Hamas official did not confirm whether Deif had been present and called the Israeli allegations "nonsense".
Israel's military describes Deif and Salama as two of the masterminds of the Oct. 7 attack that triggered the nine-month war in Gaza.
Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages in a cross-border raid into southern Israel, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel has retaliated by military action in the enclave that has killed more than 38,000 Palestinians, medical authorities in Gaza say.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant was holding special consultations, his office said, in light of "developments in Gaza".
It is unclear how the strike would affect ceasefire talks underway in Doha and Cairo.
