The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 19 people were confirmed dead in an Israeli military attack in the designated humanitarian area called Al-Mawasi, near Khan Yunis in southern Gaza.
The death toll is likely to rise as more bodies are recovered.
Earlier, Gaza’s Civil Emergency Services, which operates under the Hamas-run government, reported that at least 40 people were killed.
The entire family, who had taken refuge in a tent, was killed.
The IDF strongly disputed the initial figures, saying “the figures released by the Hamas regime are inconsistent with the information in the IDF’s possession, the exact munitions used, and the precision of the attack.”
Though Gaza’s Health Ministry is also part of the Hamas-run government, its figures are widely considered reliable: its records and detailed tallies from past wars are broadly consistent with those of independent researchers, the United Nations and even the Israeli army.
Neither the Ministry of Health nor private emergency services responded to requests for comment from The Association Press about the toll discrepancies.
The Israel Defense Forces said the attack targeted three senior Hamas fighters it claimed were directly involved in the October 7 attack on Israel.
The military did not confirm whether any of the targets were killed in the attack but said “extensive intelligence gathering” and “continuous aerial surveillance” confirmed they were all in the area.
However, Reuters reported that Hamas denied that its fighters were at the scene.
Images taken from the tent camp showed three large craters at the site, reportedly up to 9 metres (30 feet) deep.