Israel-Gaza war: killing of Turkish-American activist in West Bank ‘unprovoked and unjustified’, says Blinken – as it happened

2.57pm BST

Closing summary

• Israeli airstrikes on al-Mawasi “humanitarian zone” in the Gaza Strip have killed at least 19 people and injured a further 60, according to witnesses and medical officials. “Entire families disappeared in the Mawasi Khan Younis massacre, under the sand, in deep holes,” the Gaza civil defence spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal said.

• Prosecutors at the international criminal court are looking into the reported death of Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif and will withdraw their case against him if they can confirm it, legal filings showed . Deif, 58, was believed to be one of the masterminds of the 7 October Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel.

• During a joint press conference with the British foreign secretary, David Lammy , in London, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken , said more than 90% of the issues in the hostage release talks with Hamas have been agreed, adding that the remaining issues are resolvable.

• The Israeli military said Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi , an American activist killed in the occupied West Bank, was likely unintentionally shot by Israeli forces, following an inquiry into the incident. Blinken said the killing was “unprovoked and unjustified” and shows that the Israeli security forces need to make some fundamental changes in their rules of engagement.

• At least 41,020 Palestinian people have been killed and 94,925 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said . The toll includes 32 deaths and 100 injuries in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry.

• Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant , said Hamas’s military capabilities had been severely damaged after more than 11 months of war, claiming the Palestinian militant group no longer existed as a military formation in Gaza.

• The third phase of an ongoing campaign to vaccinate children in Gaza against polio began today. From 10 September to 13 September, children in northern Gaza will receive vaccines, according to the UN.

We are closing this blog now, but you can stay up to date on the Guardian’s Middle East coverage here .

Updated at 3.01pm BST

2.53pm BST

Gaza health ministry updates death toll from Israeli airstrike on al-Mawasi

First responders had earlier said that 40 people were killed by an Israeli strike on al-Mawasi , a crowded tent camp in southern Gaza designated as a “humanitarian zone” housing people displaced by the war, in the early hours of Tuesday. The health ministry in Gaza has now said the death toll stands at 19, though this number could rise. The Israeli military had disputed the earlier casualty figure.

Updated at 2.58pm BST

2.14pm BST

ICC prosecutor seeks to confirm death of Hamas leader Mohammed Deif

Prosecutors at the international criminal court (ICC) are looking into the reported death of Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif and will withdraw their case against him if they can confirm it, legal filings showed.

Deif, 58, was believed to be one of the masterminds of the 7 October Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken hostage.

Israel said he was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis on 13 July. Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied that.

“The prosecution will withdraw its (arrest warrant) application against Deif if sufficient and reliable information confirms his death,” the legal document, filed under seal on 2 August but only revealed on Tuesday, said, according to Reuters.

Last Friday, the ICC announced it had terminated proceedings against Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh , who was assassinated in Iran on 31 July .

In May, ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan asked for arrest warrants for Hanyineh, Deif and the current head of Hamas Yahya Sinwar for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the 7 October attacks.

The prosecutor is also seeking warrants for the arrest of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during Israel’s war in Gaza. Netanyahu said in May the ICC’s move was absurd and he rejected the comparison of Israel and Hamas. Hamas also denounced the arrest warrants when they were first applied for.

Sources told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that they are “cautiously optimistic” the court will decide against issuing the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.

Updated at 2.59pm BST

1.58pm BST

More than 90% of ceasefire issues agreed, Blinken says

Also during the press conference, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, was asked about the progress of the hostage release talks with Hamas. He said more than 90% of the issues have been agreed and the remaining issues are resolvable.

Blinken did not specify what is still being negotiated, but disputes about who should remain in control of the Philadelphi corridor – a ribbon of land along Gaza’s border with Egypt – is reportedly a major reason for the impasse.

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said he intends for Israeli troops to remain in control of the corridor, including the Rafah crossing, after its capture in May, to the alarm of Egypt. Hamas is demanding the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

Blinken said it is in the interest of both parties – Hamas and Israel – to reach a deal. He said it is in Israel’s interest to return hostages, “turn down the temperature in Gaza” and de-escalate tension with Iran and the Houthis.

Lammy said London and Washington were “completely aligned” in the need to “secure that ceasefire” and the need to “get the region onto a path to peace”.

This would have a “two-state solution at its heart”, the UK foreign secretary said.

“Clearly we have to see a reformed and renewed Palestinian Authority. There can be no role for Hamas going forward,” the foreign secretary said.

Updated at 2.18pm BST

1.48pm BST

Blinken says killing of American woman in West Bank 'unprovoked and unjustified'

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken , is in London on a diplomatic visit. He has met with the British foreign secretary, David Lammy . They held a press conference, which you can watch in the video at the top of this blog, early this afternoon.

Blinken told journalists that the killing of an American citizen during a protest last week in the occupied West Bank was “unprovoked and unjustified” and shows that the Israeli security forces need to make some fundamental changes in their rules of engagement.

“No one should be shot and killed for attending a protest,” Blinken told the news conference, in what were some of his harshest comments to date against the Israeli military.

“In our judgment, Israeli security forces need to make some fundamental changes in the way that they operate in the West Bank, including changes to their rules of engagement,” he said.

Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi , a 26-year-old volunteer with the anti-occupation International Solidarity Movement, died in hospital on Friday after being shot in the head in the town of Beita near Nablus during a protest against settler expansion in the occupied West Bank. She was reportedly killed by Israeli forces.

Updated at 2.16pm BST

1.20pm BST

What is al-Mawasi and why did Israel attack a ‘safe zone’?

Palestinian officials say an Israeli strike on al-Mawasi, a crowded tent camp designated as a “humanitarian zone” housing people displaced by the war in Gaza, has killed at least 19 people and wounded 60. But what is al-Mawasi and what happened?

What is al-Mawasi evacuation zone?

Situated to the west of the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, al-Mawasi is a 10-mile (16km) strip of sandy farmland that stretches along the Mediterranean coast, with dunes and a beach close to the sea, and a scrubby plain further inland. It was first designated in early December last year as a “humanitarian zone” by the Israel Defense Forces, where it was suggested Palestinians could find safety and the provision of international aid in the midst of Israeli military assaults on Gaza’s main urban areas.

Amid evacuation orders for other areas, Palestinians have been told to relocate to al-Mawasi on multiple occasions, leading to the emergence of a substantial camp of temporary shelters.

Related: What is al-Mawasi and why did Israel attack a ‘safe zone’?

Is al-Mawasi a safe zone?

Far from it. Despite its designation, al-Mawasi has been attacked by Israeli forces on multiple occasions. In the most deadly attack, on 13 July, Israeli jets bombed al-Mawasi, killing 90 people and injuring 300 displaced Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

Updated at 1.28pm BST

1.07pm BST

Activist killed in the West Bank was likely unintentionally shot by Israeli forces, says Israeli military

The Israeli military has said an American activist killed in the West Bank was likely unintentionally shot by Israeli forces, following an inquiry into the incident.

American-Turkish dual national, Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, was shot dead – reportedly by Israeli troops – while participating in a protest against settler expansion in the occupied West Bank on Friday. The 26-year-old was a volunteer peace activist with the anti-occupation International Solidarity Movement (ISM).

The Israeli military previously admitted to firing at the demonstrators and said it was looking into reports that a foreign national was killed. However, the ISM, which organises foreign volunteers in the Palestinian territories, said Israeli forces “intentionally shot and killed” an international human rights activist during the weekly protest on Friday morning.

Witnesses also told the Observer Eygi was killed by Israeli forces on Friday.

Related: West Bank residents tell of teargas then shots before US woman’s death

One of the bullets hit something along the way and a fragment hit a protester in the stomach, wounding him slightly, the witnesses said. The other bullet hit Eygi in the head, passing through her skull. Neighbours pointed out both the spot where Eygi was shot and where the bullet came from: a house on a ridge.

The White House has said it was “deeply disturbed” by the news and also called for Israel to investigate her killing, which has caused strong reactions across the international community.

Eygi’s family have also called for an independent investigation into her killing.

Updated at 2.46pm BST

12.47pm BST

These are the latest images coming across the wires from Khan Younis where Israeli airstrikes on the al-Mawasi “humanitarian zone” in the Gaza Strip have killed at least 19 people and injured a further 60, according to witnesses and medical officials in the blockaded Palestinian territory.

Updated at 1.30pm BST

12.37pm BST

An independent UN commission says Israel has intensified airstrikes on Iranian-linked targets in Syria, inflicting civilian casualties on at least three occasions. Since the war in Gaza began nearly a year ago, Israel has conducted dozens of airstrikes in different parts of Syria.

Iran blamed Israel for the April airstrike on Iranian consular offices in Damascus that killed seven people including two Iranian generals, and Tehran responded with an unprecedented attack against Israel almost two weeks later.

Regional tensions remain high after Iran vowed to retaliate for the July 31 killing of top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, believed to be carried out by Israel.

Updated at 1.30pm BST

12.32pm BST

UN Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland on Tuesday condemned what he said was a deadly Israeli strike on Khan Younis in Gaza, which left dozens dead and wounded according to local medical authorities.

12.21pm BST

In a statement, the Palestinian ministry of foreign affairs said the international community’s failure to implement international law to halt the war has allowed Israel to “persist in committing further massacres” in al-Mawasi and other areas in Gaza.

“An immediate ceasefire is the only way to protect Palestinian civilians and create a suitable environment for achieving a prisoner exchange deal,” the ministry added in the statement.

Updated at 3.05pm BST

11.55am BST

Death toll in Gaza reaches 41,020, says health ministry

At least 41,020 Palestinian people have been killed and 94,925 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

The toll includes 32 deaths and 100 injuries in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry.

The health ministry has said thousands of other dead people are most likely lost in the rubble of the enclave.

11.45am BST

ActionAid said humanitarian workers in Gaza have faced “severe safety risks and huge challenges” trying to deliver aid over the last two weeks, amid reports of attacks by the Israeli military on aid warehouses and vehicles.

The charity highlighted the success of the polio vaccination campaign (for children under 10), which is now entering its second week, having started on September 1 (see earlier post at 07.57 for more details).

The UN’s Palestine relief agency, Unrwa , has said that over 446,000 children in Gaza have been vaccinated against polio so far, after Hamas and Israel agreed on limited pauses in their fighting.

But despite reaching so many children in the vaccination drive, ActionAid said there are fears around the transportation of vaccines to medical points around the Gaza Strip, as well as critical fuel shortages at hospitals.

The following is contained within ActionAid’s press release summarising a new report detailing the challenges aid organisations continue to face in Gaza:

Aid workers continue to face huge logistical challenges as the humanitarian space in Gaza shrinks. In August alone, Israeli forces issued 16 displacement orders, which have reduced the so-called “humanitarian zones” to less than 11% of the strip. As a result, Solidarités International reports that it had to temporarily suspend the operation of one of its desalination plants located in an area under displacement orders, significantly reducing its ability to distribute drinkable water, while three ActionAid partners were left unable to access their warehouses.

This morning, Israeli military strikes killed at least 40 Palestinians and wounded 60 others in a camp for displaced families located in an Israeli military-designated “humanitarian” zone in Al-Mawasi, proving yet again that nowhere is safe in Gaza.

In the West Bank, aid activities have been severely disrupted by Israeli military incursions into northern cities and refugee camps. Due to the extreme danger and movement restrictions, Médecins du Monde reported that it was only able to access displaced civilians in the Jenin governorate six days after the army’s operation in the area began, causing a detrimental delay in the provision of direly needed medical and psychological emergency support.

Updated at 11.47am BST

11.17am BST

Turkey condemns 'war crime' after Israel strikes humanitarian zone in southern Gaza

Turkey’s foreign ministry has denounced the deadly overnight Israeli airstrikes in the designated al-Mawasi humanitarian zone in southern Gaza, describing it as a “war crime”. Health authorities in Gaza said the Israeli strikes on a tent camp for displaced Palestinians killed at least 40 people and injured 60 others.

“We condemn Israel’s massacre of dozens of Palestinians in an attack on the tents of civilians in the so-called ‘humanitarian zone’ in Khan Younis,” the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement, saying Israel had “added a new crime to its list of war crimes”.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been a vocal opponent of Israel’s war in Gaza. He has accused Israel of genocide, called for it to be punished in international courts and criticised western nations for backing the country’s military assault.

Updated at 11.50am BST

11.03am BST

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have downed a US drone in the western province of Saada , according to the group’s military spokesperson, Yahya Saree.

Saree said it was the ninth aircraft of this type to be downed by the Iran-back group since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza last October.

Over the weekend, he claimed the Houthi rebels shot down another US-made MQ-9 drone over the country’s Marib province, Sky News reported.

The Houthis are backed by Iran as part of its longstanding hostility with Saudi Arabia and are supporting Hamas in the war in Gaza. Soon after the Hamas-led 7 October attacks on southern Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed, the Houthi leader Abdul Malik Al-Houthi said his forces were “ready to move in the hundreds of thousands to join the Palestinian people and confront the enemy”.

Updated at 11.04am BST

10.49am BST

Israeli defence minister says Hamas no longer exists as a military formation in Gaza

Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant , has said Hamas’s military capabilities had been severely damaged after more than 11 months of war, claiming the Palestinian militant group no longer existed as a military formation in Gaza.

“Hamas as a military formation no longer exists. Hamas is engaged in guerrilla warfare and we are still fighting Hamas terrorists and pursuing Hamas leadership,” he told foreign journalists.

The Israeli military said in July it had killed over half of the leadership of Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam brigades, and that it had killed or apprehended over 14,000 Hamas fighters out of the estimated 30,000 to 40,000 fighters that the group had at the start of the war last year. These figures have been disputed by Hamas.

In the briefing with journalists, Gallant also offered his support for a hostage release agreement in the first phase of a Gaza truce deal, saying it would give Israel a “strategic opportunity” to address other security challenges. Bringing the hostages home is “the right thing to do,” he said.

Gallant has clashed repeatedly with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu , and hardline religious nationalist ministers over the need to reach a deal to halt the war and bring the remaining hostages back in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Netanyahu is under huge pressure to agree a hostage-for-peace deal with Hamas that has been under negotiation for several months. A major impasse in the negotiations has been the Philadelphi corridor along Gaza’s border with Egypt and the Netzarim east-west corridor across the territory. Netanyahu has insisted that Israel retain control of the corridors to prevent smuggling and catch militant fighters. Hamas is demanding the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

About 250 hostages were taken by the Hamas-led 7 October attacks on southern Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed. 97 hostages abducted during the attack remain in Gaza , including the bodies of at least 33 confirmed dead by the Israel Defense Forces, according to the Times of Israel.

Updated at 2.48pm BST

10.21am BST

Daniel Hurst is Guardian Australia’s foreign affairs and defence correspondent

Australia is coordinating with the UK and other allies to “pressure” Israel to alleviate the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and to stop the erosion of longstanding norms protecting aid workers.

The Australian government has also explicitly backed the UK’s decision to curb arms exports to Israel , putting it at odds with the US, which is reported to have privately warned Britain against the move.

The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong , told Guardian Australia: “Australia is working with partners – including the UK – to put pressure to see a real change in the situation in Gaza.”

The latest comments are another sign of the Australian government’s hardening rhetoric about the Israeli assault on Gaza, where about 41,000 Palestinians have been killed over the past 11 months and many more have been injured and displaced from their homes.

You can read the full story here:

Related: Australia backs UK decision to curb arms sales to Israel

9.54am BST

'Entire families disappeared under the sand' in deadly Israeli attack on al-Mawasi, official says

As we reported in an earlier post, Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli airstrikes on the al-Mawasi humanitarian zone in the southern city of Khan Younis had killed 40 people this morning.

Civil defence official Mohammed al-Mughair said emergency crews are still working “to recover 15 missing people as a result of targeting the tents of the displaced in Mawasi”.

“Entire families disappeared in the Mawasi Khan Younis massacre, under the sand, in deep holes,” said civil defence spokesperson Mahmud Bassal.

The Israeli military has questioned the strike’s death toll provided by authorities in Gaza, saying the numbers “do not align with the information held by the IDF”.

The military named several Palestinian militants it said were killed in the strike, describing them as “directly involved in the execution of the 7 October massacre”.

Hamas said claims its fighters were present at the scene of the strike were “a blatant lie”.

Updated at 10.02am BST

9.29am BST

A number of Palestinian citizens reportedly suffocated earlier today after breathing in tear gas fired by Israeli soldiers at the Hamra military checkpoint in the Jordan Valley .

This report , from Palestinian news agency Wafa, has not yet been independently verified by the Guardian:

A Wafa correspondent reported that the occupation fired tear gas bombs at citizens while they were waiting to cross the checkpoint, causing a number of them to suffocate.

The Israeli occupation forces also obstructed citizens’ passage through the checkpoint yesterday and fired tear gas bombs at them.

The checkpoint has been seeing military reinforcements and repeated closures of citizens’ movement for months.

The Hamra military checkpoint is a main link between the cities of the West Bank and the Palestinian Jordan Valley, and is one of the main checkpoints between Tubas and the Jordan Valley. However, Israel controls the movement of citizens through it.

8.49am BST

Jordanians went to the polls on Tuesday in a parliamentary election overshadowed by Israel’s war in Gaza.

Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, becoming only the second Arab state to do so after Egypt, but around half its population is of Palestinian origin, and protests calling for the treaty’s cancellation have been frequent since the war erupted in October.

“What is happening in Gaza … (the) killing, destruction and tragedies broadcast daily on television, makes us feel pain, helplessness, humiliation and degradation, and makes us forget the elections and everything that is happening around us,” Omar Mohammed, a 43-year-old civil servant, told AFP.

“I feel bitterness. I am not sure yet if I will vote in these elections,” he added.

Candidates for the election in Jordan include tribal leaders, centrists, leftists and those from the country’s largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Islamic Action Front (IAF).

“The Gaza war and the Palestinian cause occupy a major place in Jordanian elections, as all eyes and minds are on Gaza and Palestine and the massacres taking place there against the Palestinian people,” IAF candidate Saleh Armouti said.

“The elections … should not be delayed and they serve the Palestinian cause and the region, but I also fear that there will be some abstention from voting due to these events,” he said.

Updated at 8.51am BST

8.36am BST

The border crossing between Jordan and the occupied West Bank – the King Hussein Bridge (also known as the Allenby Bridge crossing) – has reopened to travellers but remains closed to commercial activity, according to the Israel Airports Authority.

It closed after three Israeli workers were killed at the border crossing on Sunday when a Jordanian truck driver opened fire on them. You can read more on this story here .

8.18am BST

On Monday – prior to the Israeli attack on the al-Mawasi camp – UN secretary general António Guterres commented on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, saying:

The level of suffering we are witnessing in Gaza is unprecedented in my mandate as secretary-general of the United Nations.

I’ve never seen such a level of death and destruction as we are seeing in Gaza in the last few months.

Stressing the need for a ceasefire, Guterres said that the UN had offered to monitor any truce, but that it was “unrealistic” to think the UN could play a role in Gaza’s future, either by administering the territory or providing a peacekeeping force, because Israel is unlikely to accept a UN role.

Of course, we’ll be ready to do whatever the international community asked for us … The question is whether the parties would accept it, and in particular whether Israel would accept it.

Updated at 9.58am BST

7.57am BST

Third phase in polio vaccination campaign to begin on 10 September, says UN

The third phase of an ongoing campaign to vaccinate children in Gaza against polio is set to begin on Tuesday. From 10 September to 13 September, children in northern Gaza will receive vaccines, according to the UN.

Limited pauses in fighting have been held to allow the vaccination campaign, which aims to reach 640,000 children in Gaza after the territory’s first polio case in around 25 years. While these temporary pauses, agreed between Hamas and Israel, have generally been stuck to in certain areas in Gaza, there have been ongoing reports of Israeli airstrikes killing Palestinian people in others.

A second round of vaccination will be required four weeks after the first.

“Tuesday is the hardest part when we roll out the campaign in the north. Hopefully, that will work so we complete the first stage of the campaign The second and final stage is planned for the end of the month when we have to do all of this all over again,” Unrwa director of communications, Juliette Touma, told Reuters.

On Sunday, the second phase of Gaza’s polio vaccination campaign concluded with 256,572 children in Khan Younis and Rafah reached over four days.

Updated at 3.01pm BST

7.35am BST

Attaf al-Shaar , who was displaced from the southern city of Rafah, said the deadly Israeli airstrike on al-Mawasi , happened just after midnight and caused a fire.

“The people were buried in the sand. They were retrieved as body parts,” she told an Associated Press reporter at the scene.

Updated at 9.58am BST

7.23am BST

Three Palestinians were killed on Tuesday in an Israeli bombing of Al-Shawa square east of Gaza City, Wafa, the Palestinian news agency, reported. The bomb targeted civilians at a falafel cart on Al-Hakima street, the outlet reported. These claims have not yet been independently verified.

7.12am BST

Welcome back to our live coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza and the wider Middle East crisis. The main story today is the reports of dozens of people being killed in al- Mawasi , a supposed humanitarian zone of safety, in Israeli airstrikes.

A Gaza civil defence official told Agence France-Presse (AFP) early this morning that “40 martyrs and 60 injured were recovered and transferred” to nearby hospitals following an attack inside the humanitarian zone in Khan Younis, the Palestinian territory’s main southern city. We will bring you more on this as it comes.

Updated at 9.58am BST

3.08am BST

We’re pausing our blog here. We will return to the live coverage if there are any major updates to bring you.

For now, you can read out full coverage of the search and rescue efforts after the deadly strike on the al-Mawasi humanitarian zone here:

Related: Khan Younis safe zone strike: dozens killed in Israeli attack on Al-Mawasi, Gaza officials say

3.03am BST

Key event

A year ago al-Mawasi, a strip of mainly coast and dunes, was mostly empty. Aid agencies say it is now home to more than 380,000 people.

Nearly all of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been forced from their homes at least once, and some have had to flee as many as 10 times.

The Gaza civil emergency service said at least 20 tents caught on fire in the strike on Tuesday.

Updated at 9.59am BST

2.42am BST

The humanitarian situation in al-Mawasi

Although Israeli officials have claimed “international humanitarian aid will be provided as needed” for the vast numbers of displaced in al-Mawasi, the reality is very different.

Several hundred thousand people have packed into al-Mawasi since the beginning of the conflict despite minimal provision there of even basic services. Water supply is inadequate, there is almost no sanitation, healthcare is rudimentary and infectious diseases are on the rise.

In May, an aid worker described to the Guardian the “horrific and dehumanising” conditions, with limited food, filthy and scarce water, overwhelmed healthcare facilities and almost no sanitation.

Another said the coast was “totally jam packed, with block after block of tents and only narrow gaps between them”.

“There is no infrastructure inside the camps and very limited new supplies getting in of course,” he said.

The vast majority of Gaza’s population has been displaced, often multiple times, and 86% of the territory has been put under evacuation orders by the Israeli military, according to the UN. Israeli officials say the orders are aimed at reducing civilian casualties and blame Hamas for using people as human shields.

Last month, humanitarian officials confirmed that overcrowding in the humanitarian zone was dissuading those given evacuation orders by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from leaving, despite the dangers of remaining.

“There’s just no space and people know that, so they stay where they are. You can’t get hold of tents, so even if you found somewhere, it would be difficult to get any shelter, and conditions there are terrible,” a UN official based in Gaza told the Guardian.

“Some people refuse to move [to al-Mawasi] because they just don’t want to leave their homes but most because they’ll have nowhere to live if they go there.”

Updated at 9.58am BST

2.21am BST

What is the al-Mawasi humanitarian zone?

Al-Mawasi is a narrow strip of coastline at the southernmost end of Gaza, close to the city of Khan Younis.

In October, just weeks after the beginning of the war in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) designated al-Mawasi a “humanitarian area” and told residents of Gaza to evacuate there to avoid being caught up in the offensive launched following Hamas’s attacks into southern Israel which killed 1,200, mostly civilians. The IDF promised “international humanitarian aid will be provided as needed” .

On other occasions throughout the conflict, the IDF has told communities in active combat zones to evacuate to al-Mawasi.

There have however been a number of deadly attacks on the camp.

In January, a suspected Israeli airstrike hit a residential compound in al-Mawasi hosting medical teams and their families from the International Rescue Committee and Medical Aid for Palestinians, two NGOs working in Gaza.

In April, during a military operation, an Israeli tank reportedly fired on a house where staff from Médecins Sans Frontières and their families were sheltering, killing two and injuring six.

In June, the Hamas-run health ministry said 25 people had been killed and 50 injured after Israeli shelling “targeted the tents of the displaced in the al-Mawasi area”.

One airstrike on al-Mawasi in July may have killed Mohammed Deif, the most senior Hamas military commander in Gaza and one of the architects of the attacks into southern Israel that triggered the conflict, but also caused at least 92 deaths and wounded more than 300, according to figures from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

A number of other attacks have been reported.

Updated at 9.59am BST

2.13am BST

Forty killed in al-Mawasi strike, says Gaza’s civil defence agency

Gaza’s civil defence agency has said that that the strike on the al-Mawasi humanitarian zone killed 40 people and wounded 60 others.

Civil defence official Mohammed Al-Mughair told the AFP news agency that “40 martyrs and 60 injured were recovered and transferred” to nearby hospitals after the strike.

“Our crews are still working to recover 15 missing people as a result of targeting the tents of the displaced in Mawasi, Khan Younis,” Mughair added.

Civil defence sources said separately that the strike had left behind large craters.

“Entire families disappeared in the Mawasi Khan Younis massacre, under the sand, in deep holes,” said civil defence spokesperson Mahmoud Basal.

Updated at 9.58am BST

2.04am BST

Hamas denies militants were present at site of attack at al-Mawasi

Hamas has denied Israeli allegations that gunmen were present at the site targeted by Israeli strikes on Tuesday morning. In a statement, the group also rejected accusations it exploited civilian areas for military purposes.

This is a clear lie that aims to justify these ugly crimes. The resistance has denied several times that any of its members exist within civilian gatherings or using these places for military purposes.”

Earlier the Israeli military said it “struck significant Hamas terrorists who were operating within a command and control centre embedded inside the Humanitarian Area in Khan Younis.”

Updated at 9.58am BST

1.51am BST

Picture from the site of the attack are beginning to come in. They show a huge search and rescue effort taking place in the dark. It is now just before 4am in Gaza.

Search and rescue teams have told local media that they have been struggling to reach victims who might have been buried.

The Reuters news agency has quoted local residents of al-Mawasi as saying that ambulances were racing back and forth from the area hit in the attack, to a nearby hospital, while Israeli jets could still be heard overhead.

Updated at 9.59am BST

1.44am BST

IDF says steps taken 'to reduce the chance of harming civilians'

In a statement online, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said fighter jets attacked “terrorists of the terrorist organization Hamas who were operating in a command and control complex disguised in the humanitarian area in Khan Younis.”

Before the attack, many steps were taken to reduce the chance of harming civilians, including the use of precision weaponry, aerial surveillance and additional intelligence information.”

1.30am BST

Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone reportedly hit by four missiles

Residents and medics at the tent encampment in the al-Mawasi area, which is designated as a humanitarian zone, have said it was struck by at least four missiles. The camp is crowded with displaced Palestinians who have fled from elsewhere in the enclave.

The Gaza civil emergency service said at least 20 tents caught on fire, and missiles caused craters as deep as nine meters.

Dozens of Palestinians have reportedly been killed, with many more wounded.

“Our teams are still moving out martyrs and wounded from the targeted area. It looks like a new Israeli massacre,” a Gaza civil emergency official said.

The Israeli military said it “struck significant Hamas terrorists who were operating within a command and control center embedded inside the Humanitarian Area in Khan Younis.”

Updated at 9.59am BST

1.18am BST

Welcome and summary

Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s continuing coverage of the Israel-Gaza war and the wider crisis in the Middle East.

Dozens of Palestinians were reported killed in an Israeli airstrike on a tent encampment in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip early on Tuesday, as the Israeli military said it targeted a Hamas command centre.

Residents and medics said a tent encampment in the al-Mawasi area, which is designated as a humanitarian zone, was struck by at least four missiles. The camp is crowded with displaced Palestinians who have fled from elsewhere in the enclave.

More on that in a moment, first here’s a summary of the day’s other main events.

• The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, has said that 25 people were killed in an Israeli airstrikes on Syria . Syrian state media had put the death toll at 16 with 40 people injured. Iran described the airstrikes as a “criminal” attack on Syria. The main target appeared to be a military research centre in Masyaf associated with Syria’s chemical and ballistic missiles programme but explosions were also heard in Damascus, Homs and Tartus.

• Benny Gantz, the centre-right National Unity party leader and former defence minister, has reportedly said that Israel should shift its focus toward Hezbollah and the Lebanese border . “The story of Hamas is old news,” Gantz was quoted as saying at a Middle East forum in Washington DC. He said that, instead, “the story of Iran and its proxies all around the area and what they are trying to do is the real issue”.

• The UN human rights chief, Volker Turk, said that ending the war in Gaza is a priority and asked countries to act on what he called Israel’s “blatant disregard” for international law in the occupied Palestinian territories.

• The Palestinian Authority has held a funeral procession for an American-Turkish activist who a witness says was shot and killed by Israeli forces last week during a demonstration against settlements in the occupied West Bank . Dozens of mourners – including several leading officials of the western-backed authority – attended the procession in Nablus for Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, a 26-year-old from Seattle who also held Turkish citizenship.

• Australia is coordinating with the UK and other allies to “pressure” Israel to alleviate the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and to stop the erosion of longstanding norms protecting aid workers. The Australian government has also explicitly backed the UK’s decision to curb arms exports to Israel , putting it at odds with the US, which is reported to have privately warned Britain against the move. The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, told Guardian Australia: “Australia is working with partners – including the UK – to put pressure to see a real change in the situation in Gaza.”

Updated at 9.59am BST