Israeli army admits to Gaza strike after BBC Verify investigation

The Israeli military has admitted to carrying out a previously unreported strike on the al-Mawasi area in southern Gaza. This strike, which took place on a Sunday, reportedly killed at least one Palestinian and injured around 30 others. This incident occurred just hours after 31 Palestinians were killed near a new aid distribution center in the city of Rafah, according to the Hamas-run Civil Defence agency. While examining footage that appeared to show the incident near the aid center, BBC Verify discovered a separate strike in the nearby city of Khan Younis. This blast had not been announced by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which usually publishes updates about their operations online. It was only after BBC Verify approached the IDF that they admitted to conducting an artillery strike, explaining that the incident was due to 'technical and operational errors. ' The IDF said their troops had fired towards a target, but the artillery deviated and mistakenly hit the Mawasi area, a coastal strip of Khan Younis. However, the IDF did not provide evidence to support these claims. It is uncommon for the IDF to acknowledge such errors. An analysis of the IDF's official Telegram account by BBC Verify found only four previous instances where the IDF admitted to making a mistake or operational error related to the Gaza conflict since it began in October 2023. Footage from the Khan Younis blast began to surface late on Sunday evening. It showed bloodied bodies surrounded by dust clouds in an area where Palestinians were living in tents. Women and children were seen running and screaming as injured people were carried away. The strike hit a location where many displaced Palestinians had been sheltering. The United Nations estimates that a large portion of Gaza's 2. 1 million people have been forced to flee their homes due to the ongoing conflict. Ambulances arrived shortly after the strike to collect the injured. BBC Verify identified some of the injured Palestinians in both the footage from the scene and later images from the hospital where they were treated. According to the Kuwaiti Field Hospital, one Palestinian was killed and 30 others were injured by the strike. Initially, the footage was falsely linked to killings near the controversial new aid distribution site in Rafah. However, BBC Verify geolocated the footage to Khan Younis, about 4. 5 kilometers away from the distribution site. The Hamas-run Civil Defence agency said that Israeli gunfire had caused the injuries. The Israeli army initially denied firing on Palestinians near the aid site but later admitted that troops had fired warning shots. Using the position of the sun, BBC Verify confirmed that the footage was filmed in the evening, shortly before sunset. A local journalist who filmed the scene told BBC Verify that the incident occurred around 7 pm local time on Sunday, hours after the killings near the aid site. The IDF's statement did not provide a death toll for the Khan Younis blast and said the incident was under review. The footage showing the strike has been central to a dispute between the BBC and the White House. On Monday, BBC Verify reviewed the footage and debunked claims that it was connected to the killings near the aid center in Rafah. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt cited the footage as evidence of the aid center killings. The BBC responded by saying she had been conflating two separate stories and that they had not removed any story, standing by their journalism. Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas' cross-border attack, which killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages. Since then, at least 54,607 people have been killed in Gaza, including 4,335 since Israel resumed its offensive on March 18, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. The situation remains dire, with many civilians caught in the crossfire and suffering from the ongoing violence.