In the Gazan city of Rafah, an Israeli bombardment set sparked a fire that killed forty-five people in a tent camp, according to officials on Monday. This led to an international outcry, with world leaders calling for the enforcement of a World Court decision to stop Israel’s attack.
Following a strike that destroyed tents and flimsy metal shelters late on Sunday night, Palestinian families hurried to hospitals to prepare their deceased for burial.
The Israeli military, which is fighting Hamas in Gaza, declared it was investigating allegations that one of its attacks on leaders of the Islamist terrorist group in Rafah caused the fire.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, claims that civilian casualties were not intended as a result of the strike.
“In Rafah, we already evacuated about 1 million non-combatant residents and despite our utmost effort not to harm non-combatants, something unfortunately went tragically wrong,” he continued, cutting short a speech in parliament to appease protesting Members of Parliament.
Families were getting ready for bed when the attack occurred in the Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood, where thousands had taken refuge after Israeli forces launched a ground offensive more than two weeks ago, according to survivors.
“While we prepared our kids’ beds for sleep, we were praying. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, and then there was a tremendous explosion and there was fire all around us,” recalled Umm Mohamed Al-Attar, a mother of Palestinian descent wearing a red headscarf.
“Every youngster began to wail… We thought the metal was going to fall on us and shrapnel was falling into the rooms, it was such a horrible sound.”
People could be heard screaming in fear as a fire raged in the darkness in video footage that Reuters was able to obtain. As a single fire vehicle started to douse the flames, a group of young guys attempted to remove sheets of corrugated iron with a hose.
Health officials in Hamas-run Gaza stated that women, children, and the elderly made up more than half of the deceased and that the number of fatalities was probably going to increase due to those who had serious burns.
Afterwards, medics reported that seven Palestinians had died and numerous others had been injured in an Israeli airstrike on a residence in Rafah on Monday.
Based on “precise intelligence”, the Israeli military announced that on Sunday, it destroyed not just the chief of staff for Hamas in the greater West Bank, but also another officer responsible for killing Israelis.
That came after eight rockets fired at Israel from the southern point of Gaza, the Rafah area, were intercepted.
Despite a verdict on Friday from the highest U.N. court ordering it to cease, Israel has continued its offensive, claiming that the ruling gives it some leeway for military action there. The court also restated demands for the unconditional and prompt release of hostages that Hamas is holding in Gaza.
The United States did not demand an end to the Rafah incursion; instead, it asked Israel to use greater caution in order to safeguard civilians.
A spokesman for the National Security Council stated, “We understand this strike killed two senior Hamas terrorists who are responsible for attacks against Israeli civilians. Israel has a right to go after Hamas.” “But as we’ve been clear, Israel must take every precaution possible to protect civilians.”
Israel’s most recent attacks have “outraged” French President Emmanuel Macron. “These activities ought to end. For Palestinian citizens, there are no secure locations in Rafah “he stated on X. Later, thousands of protesters gathered in Paris to voice their opposition to the Gaza offensive.
The International Court of Justice’s decision must be honoured, according to EU foreign policy leader Josep Borrell and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
“International humanitarian law applies for all, also for Israel’s conduct of the war,” Baerbock stated.
The Canadian government demanded a quick ceasefire, describing itself as “horrified” by the tragic airstrike in Rafah.
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly stated on X that her country “does not support an Israeli military operation in Rafah.” “This level of human suffering must come to an end.”
In addition, Qatar stated that the Rafah bombing may impede efforts to mediate a ceasefire and hostage exchange, while Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates denounced the Israeli attack.
NOT A SAFE ZONE
According to Gaza’s health ministry, more than 36,000 Palestinians have died as a result of Israel’s offensive. Israel began the operation after militants led by Hamas stormed villages in southern Israel on October 7, killing almost 1,200 people and taking over 250 captives, according to Israeli estimates.
By day, the Rafah camp was a smoldering jumble of twisted metal, burned goods, and tents.
Men prayed next to bodies covered in shrouds while women sobbed.
Abed Mohammed Al-Attar, who was sitting next to the bodies of his relatives, claimed that Israel had misled the locals when it claimed that the western parts of Rafah would be secure. The fire claimed the lives of his brother, sister-in-law, and numerous other family members.
“The military lies. Gaza is not secure at all. Neither a woman nor an old man nor a youngster can feel secure. He answered, “Look at him (my brother) and his wife; they were martyred.
The West Bank-based Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced “the heinous massacre.”
According to state media, Egypt has denounced Israel’s “deliberate bombing of the tents of displaced people” and called it a flagrant breach of international law.
The Israeli military declared on Monday that it was looking into allegations of gunfire between Israeli and Egyptian forces near the Rafah border crossing with Gaza.
According to Egypt’s military spokesman, one person was killed in gunfire near the Rafah crossing, and investigators were in the area.
At least eight people were killed on Monday when Israeli tanks increased the intensity of their bombardment of Rafah’s eastern and central districts, according to local health officials. Medics said that two medical personnel were killed by a missile fired from a drone as they were leaving the Kuwaiti hospital in Rafah.
According to the interior ministry of Hamas-run Gaza, three Palestinian police officers were killed by an Israeli attack in the Al-Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip.
Israel claims it intends to free captives it claims are being detained in the region and drive away Hamas fighters who have taken up residence in Rafah.
