The Hamas-run health ministry says at least 45 people, including women and children, have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on a camp for displaced Palestinians in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Video from the scene in the Tal al-Sultan area on Sunday night shows a huge explosion and massive fire burning. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had killed two “senior Hamas militants” and that it was “investigating the circumstances of the civilian deaths in the area”. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it a “tragedy”.
Ne détournez pas le regard, retweeter, liker tout ce qui ce passe à Rafah c’est un GÉNOCIDE, déplacer des humains dans un endroit et les tuer c’est UN GÉNOCIDE ne laissez plus les autres donner un autre nom à ce qui se passe pic.twitter.com/vsJZ9dtRXs
— syl🦦 (@syylllia) May 26, 2024
Credit to Yediotnews
Hours earlier, Hamas fired eight rockets from Rafah towards Tel Aviv – the first long-range attack on the central Israeli city since January.
About 800,000 people have fled Rafah since the Israeli ground campaign in Rafah began three weeks ago, but hundreds of thousands are still believed to be sheltering there.
In a separate development on Monday, the Egyptian military said it was investigating a shooting near the Gaza border just south of Rafah, in which a member of Egyptian security forces was killed.
The IDF, whose forces have taken control of the Gazan side of the Rafah border crossing, said it was discussing the shooting incident with Egyptian authorities.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said Sunday’s airstrike targeted tents of displaced people near a U.N. facility in Tal al-Sultan, about 2 km (1.2 miles) northwest of the center of Rafah.
Graphic footage shows several structures burning next to a banner reading “Kuwaiti Peace Camp ‘1’”, as first responders and bystanders carry several bodies.
“We were sitting safely at the door of the house. Suddenly we heard the sound of a missile,” witness Fadi Dukhan told Reuters news agency. “We ran and found the road covered with smoke,” he said. He said he and others saw a girl and a young man who were killed by the blast.
Abed Mohammed al-Attar said his brother and sister-in-law were murdered, leaving his children orphaned. He said, “[The Israeli] military is a liar. There is no security in Gaza. There is no security for any child, elderly man or woman.”
The IDF said in a statement Monday afternoon that Israel’s military advocate general, Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi — who is charged with ensuring that the military acts according to the law — has ordered an investigation into the incident.
It said Israeli Air Force (IAF) aircraft had “conducted an intelligence-based strike against key terrorist targets in the area of Rafah” on Sunday.
The IDF identified them as Yassin Rabia, the chief of staff of the armed group’s fighters in the occupied West Bank, and Khaled Nagar, another senior officer in its West Bank wing, whom it accused of directing deadly attacks against Israeli soldiers and Was accused of carrying out.
“Prior to the attack, a number of steps were taken to minimize the risk of harm to civilians not involved during the attack, including aerial surveillance, deployment of precision weapons by the Indian Air Force and additional intelligence,” the statement said. Information was included.”
“Based on these measures, it was assessed that there would be no expected harm to uninvolved civilians… The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians during the war.”
Israeli government spokesman Avi Hyman told the BBC, “From initial reports it appears that somehow the fire started and unfortunately it took the lives of other people.”
In a speech on Monday morning, Major General Tomer-Yerushalmi described the incident in Rafah as “very difficult”.
The Hamas-run health ministry said Monday afternoon that at least 45 people, including 23 women, children and the elderly, had been killed in the attack on the camp.
Mohammed al-Mughayar, a senior official at Gaza’s Hamas-run civil protection agency, meanwhile told AFP that agency rescue workers had seen “burned bodies and dismembered limbs”, as well as “cases of amputations, injured children, Women and elderly people have also been seen.”
Medecins Sans Frontiers said overnight that 15 bodies and dozens of casualties had been brought to a trauma stabilization point, which the charity supports.
“We are horrified by this deadly incident, which once again shows that nowhere is safe. We continue to call for an immediate and sustained ceasefire in Gaza,” MSF said.
A spokesman for Unrawa, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees – the largest humanitarian organization in Gaza – said it had become very difficult to communicate with its teams on the ground in Rafah.
“But what we do know is that a serious incident occurred very close to one of the largest Unrava buildings, northwest of Rafah. We’re talking about dozens of people who have died and many more injured,” Juliet Touma told the BBC.
“No place in Gaza is safe. No one is safe, including aid workers.”
Ismail al-Thawbta, head of the Hamas-run government media office, said the camp was far from recent military action and the IDF had “called on civilians and displaced persons to move into them.”
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