Hamas said Israeli forces carried out two airstrikes on buildings in Gaza City, killing at least 38 people and wounding many more.
The Israeli military said its warplanes struck Hamas military infrastructure facilities and said it would release more details at a later date.
A spokesman for Gaza’s civil defense said several attacks came on residential areas in the al-Shati neighborhood, one of Gaza’s historic refugee camps. Another attack targeted a house in the al-Tuffa neighborhood, according to the Hamas-run government media office.
Footage showed people carrying the injured through dust-covered streets and searching the rubble for survivors.
Previous reports had put the death toll at 42.
Israeli media reported that the airstrikes may have targeted senior Hamas officials.
Gaza City civil defence spokesman Hussein Muhaisen told AFP the shockwave from the attack was “like an earthquake”.
“As you can see, the whole area was targeted and homes destroyed. There are families still under the rubble,” he said.
“Some of the injured have been taken to Baptist Hospital and we are currently retrieving others from under the rubble, but the situation is very dire as ambulances are short of tools and fuel.”
Borrell called for an independent investigation and for those responsible to be held accountable.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Saturday that an initial investigation into the shooting in the Al-Mawasi neighborhood in southern Gaza found that “there was no direct attack by the IDF on a Red Cross facility.”
The company said the incident would be “expeditedly investigated” and the findings would be released.
Israel launched an operation to destroy Hamas following an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7 that left about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, dead and 251 taken hostage.
Since then, more than 37,551 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Strip Health Ministry.
The figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but by the end of April, 14,680 children, women and elderly people had been reportedly identified among the dead.
