25 dead in attacks on camp near Rafah, says Gaza ministry – DW – 22.06.2024

The Gaza Strip’s Health Ministry said on Friday that at least 25 people were killed and another 50 injured in the attack, which authorities classified as an Israeli attack on a tent camp in Muwasi near the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

The Health Ministry is under the control of Hamas officials, but the United Nations considers the figures published by the ministry to be largely reliable.

Witnesses said Israeli forces shelled the camp in an area just outside an Israeli-designated security zone where thousands have fled since Israel launched its Rafah offensive in May.

The Israeli military said the incident was currently under investigation, but there was “no evidence that an IDF (Israel Defense Forces) attack was carried out within the humanitarian security zone.”

Red Cross condemns attack on camp near office

The International Red Cross (ICRC) in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories condemned the attack and said it landed near its offices and residences in the Gaza Strip.

“This serious security incident is one of several in recent days; previously, stray bullets reached the ICRC’s structures,” said a statement on the X platform, formerly Twitter.

“We condemn these incidents, which endanger the lives of humanitarian workers and civilians,” the statement said. The parties to the conflict are obliged to “take all possible precautions to prevent civilians from being injured or civilian objects from being damaged.”

The ICRC said the Red Cross field hospital had recorded 22 deaths and 45 injuries as a result of the attack, with further casualties reported.

Israel vows to continue fighting despite international criticism of the death toll in Gaza

Despite months of increasing international pressure and tens of thousands of deaths, Israel has vowed to continue its Gaza offensive until Hamas – which Israel, the United States, Germany and others classify as a terrorist organization – is wiped out.

International observers are calling for an end to the fighting that began after a Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7 that killed nearly 1,200 people and kidnapped about 250.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israel has killed more than 37,000 people since it began its retaliatory offensive. The Israeli military says it is trying to avoid civilian casualties.

More than one million of Gaza’s original 2.2 million inhabitants are currently in Rafah and the surrounding area, seeking shelter from the fighting.

The UN and other organizations called on Israel to stop its offensive, citing the dire humanitarian situation in the enclave.

sdi, js/fb,rm (AP, dpa)