Military says it was targeting Hamas in strike on camp

An Israeli strike hit a crowded Palestinian tent camp early Tuesday in Gaza, killing at least 19 people and wounding 60, Palestinian officials said. Israel said it targeted senior Hamas militants with precise munitions.

- WAFAA SHURAFA, MOHAMMAD JAHJOUH AND SAMY MAGDY

Palestinians look at the destruction Tuesday after an Israeli airstrike hit a crowded camp housing displaced Palestinians in Muwasi, in the Gaza Strip.

The strike occurred in Muwasi, a sprawl of camps along the coast that Israel designated as a humanitarian zone for hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians to seek shelter from the nearly year-old Israel-Hamas war.

Associated Press video showed three large craters. First responders dug with garden tools and bare hands, using mobile phone flashlights until the sun came up. They pulled body parts from the sand, including what appeared to be a human leg.

“We were told to go to Muwasi, to the safe area … Look around you and see this safe place,” said Iyad Hamed Madi, who had been sheltering there.