Gaza’s civil defence agency said that 20 people, including five children, were killed in an Israeli strike on a displacement camp near Khan Younis in the territory’s south.

The agency’s spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told AFP there were “20 martyrs, including five children, and dozens were injured after the occupation (Israel) bombed the tents of the displaced in the Al-Mawasi area” near Khan Yunis.

Asked about the strike, the Israeli military said it targeted “senior Hamas terrorists […] in the humanitarian area in Khan Younis”.

It said there were “secondary explosions” following the strike, which they said indicated that weapons were stored there.