IDF says it is investigating central Gaza strike as Hamas health authorities revise toll to 68

The IDF says it is investigating claims that dozens of people were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Maghazi camp, east of Deir al-Balah, in the center of the Strip, Reuters reports.

The Associated Press reports that Hamas health authorities have revised their initial death toll of 70 down to 68.

The toll cannot be independently verified, and Gazan health authorities have been accused in the past of inflating casualty numbers. The Hamas-controlled officials also do not say if the dead are civilians or linked to armed groups, though they claim some of the victims are women and children.

The Palestinian Red Crescent says it transported five fatalities and another eight injured people in a strike in Maghazi.

????The Palestine Red Crescent teams evacuated 5 martyrs and 8 wounded ????following the targeting of a house in the Maghazi camp in the central #Gaza Strip.
????Videography by volunteer: Mohammed Suleiman. pic.twitter.com/piNuflu51j

— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) December 24, 2023

The IDF also tells Reuters it is committed to minimizing harm to civilians.

Israel largely blames Hamas for non-combatant deaths, noting that the terror group has deeply embedded its military infrastructure amid civilian areas.