An Israel Defense Forces strike that killed dozens of people in the Maghazi camp in the center of the Gaza Strip earlier this week was carried out using improper ordnance, a military official told the Kan public broadcaster on Thursday, with the army appearing to take responsibility for the strike.

“The type of munition did not match the nature of the attack, causing extensive collateral damage that could have been avoided,” the official said.

According to Hamas-run health authorities in Gaza, 68 people were killed in the strike in the Maghazi camp, east of Deir al-Balah, in the center of the Strip, late Sunday. The toll cannot be verified and could include Hamas fighters. Associated Press journalists at a nearby hospital said they watched frantic Palestinians carry the dead, including a baby, and the wounded following the strike.

Israel has repeatedly said it is investing extensive efforts in minimizing harm to noncombatants, noting that this is complicated by the terror group having deeply embedded its military infrastructure amid civilian areas.

In response to the Kan report on Thursday, an IDF spokesperson told the broadcaster: “The IDF regrets the harm to those who were uninvolved and is working to learn lessons from the incident.”

The army had said on Sunday that it was investigating the incident.

The strike came amid ongoing fighting in Gaza sparked by Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, in which some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing over 240 hostages of all ages — mostly civilians — under the cover of a deluge of thousands of rockets fired at Israeli towns and cities.

In response, Israel vowed to destroy the terror group and release the hostages, and launched a wide-scale military campaign in Strip. Hamas health authorities say some 21,000 people have been killed in the war, now in its third month, though those figures cannot be confirmed and Hamas includes fighters in its toll.