Emergency workers said women and children were among the dead after the pre-dawn blast ignited rows of canvas shelters in the southern Gaza Strip city.
The strike came amid what rescuers called the deadliest three-day span in months: more than 300 people have been killed since Thursday in raids that hit hospitals and refugee camps.
Israel’s military, which launched a wider ground push dubbed “Operation Gideon’s Chariots” on Saturday, said it was targeting Hamas command sites and weapons stores.
Asked about the Khan Younis incident, a spokesperson said the army was “reviewing operational details.”
New hostage–truce formula?
Parallel to the escalation, negotiators in Doha are examining a proposal under which Hamas would release nine hostages in exchange for a 60-day ceasefire, the daily entry of 400 aid trucks and an Israeli prisoner release, a Palestinian official told Reuters.
Israel, the official added, wants proof of life and a full list of captives before agreeing.
Israel’s new ground offensive
Netanyahu’s security cabinet has approved plans that could include re-occupying the whole of Gaza unless Hamas accepts the U.S.-backed proposal by the end of Trump’s now-concluded regional tour. Arab mediators in Doha have asked for more time, but negotiators reported no breakthrough.
Jerusalem and Washington have floated a plan to channel supplies through private contractors, an idea rejected by the United Nations.
Israel imposed a near-total aid blockade in mid-March, which Defense Minister Israel Katz last month called a “main pressure lever” against Hamas.
Humanitarian agencies say the 10-week chokehold has pushed Gaza’s 2.1 million residents toward famine; a U.N.-backed assessment this week said the whole population faces “critical risk.”
Israel denies shortages, blaming “Hamas looting and selling aid.”
Israel’s campaign, launched after Hamas killed 1,218 people and abducted 251 on Oct 7 2023, has left at least 53,000 Palestinians dead, according to Gaza’s health ministry, and displaced nearly the entire population.
Fifty‑seven hostages remain in Gaza, 34 of them presumed dead, Israel says.
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Source: Reuters, BBC, The Guardian, AP News