Mohamed Abu Selmiyeh, director at the nearby Shifa hospital, says that most of those affected in the attack on the beach were university students who visited the café for internet connection.
The hospital was already overcrowded with patients before this major attack, says Selmiyeh.
The place is always full of people because the rest stop offers drinks, seating for families and internet connection, says eyewitness Ahmed Al-Nayrab, 26, to AFP and tells about a "huge explosion that shook the area".
Journalist among the dead
A journalist is also said to be among the dead. According to Hamas-controlled authorities, the number of dead journalists is now 228.
Local sources state that another journalist was injured in the attack.
Terror-stamped Hamas says that the Israeli bombing struck a rest stop on the beach where the local population in the war-torn city seeks shelter. The Islamist movement claims that the attack was directed against warehouses for humanitarian aid and tents for displaced people.
Israel's military has not commented on the attack.
Several dead in food distribution
There are also reports that around thirty more Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces on Monday, according to Gaza's civil defense.
About ten of them are said to have been killed in connection with a food distribution in southern Gaza. But the reports of the number of dead vary. Several people are also said to have been injured.
Local authorities and eyewitnesses have reported repeated deadly attacks on Palestinians at the strongly criticized Israeli-American organization Gaza Humanitarian Foundations (GHF) food distribution in Gaza in recent weeks.
