Israel condemns: “barbaric” attack on Rafah refugee camp kills at least 50 people

At least 50 people were killed and dozens more injured in an Israeli air strike on tents for displaced Palestinians in Rafah, according to health authorities in the Gaza Strip.

The Health Ministry said most of the dead and injured in Rafah were women and children. Thousands of people had been ordered to seek shelter in the south of the besieged enclave. “Several others were trapped in burning rubble,” officials said.

The attacks late Sunday, which an aid group condemned as “barbaric,” sparked an outcry from international politicians demanding the implementation of an International Court of Justice order halting the Israeli attack.

Two days earlier, the International Court of Justice had ordered Israel to end its military offensive in Rafah. More than half of the Gaza Strip’s 2.3 million inhabitants had sought refuge there before the Israeli invasion earlier this month. Tens of thousands of people are still in the area, and many others have already fled.

The Israeli military confirmed the attack, saying its air force targeted a Hamas compound and that the attack was carried out using “precise munitions and based on precise intelligence,” killing Hamas’s West Bank chief of staff and another official behind the deadly attacks on Israelis. It added: “The Israel Defense Forces is aware of reports indicating that several civilians in the area were injured as a result of the attack and fire. The incident is currently under investigation.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attack was not intended to cause civilian casualties. “Despite our utmost efforts not to harm innocent civilians, a tragic mistake occurred last night,” Netanyahu said in a speech to the Israeli parliament on Monday.

Gaza’s Health Ministry shared graphic images of the scene showing widespread destruction. The International Committee of the Red Cross said its field hospital in Rafah was receiving an influx of wounded and that other hospitals were also receiving large numbers of patients.

The airstrike hit an area just 500 meters from a shelter run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA).

Tamara Alrifai, a spokeswoman for UNRWA, said The Independent: “We have had little contact with our team in Gaza, apart from brief, patchy communication with our international staff. We are all very concerned about the safety of our Palestinian colleagues in and around Tal al Sultan. The images we are receiving are absolutely horrific and we are receiving reports of mass casualties, including children and women among those killed.

“The images from last night are proof that Gaza is truly hell on earth and that no place is safe and no one is safe in Gaza.”

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri called the attack in Rafah a “massacre” and blamed the United States for supporting Israel with weapons and money.

A spokesman for the US National Security Council called on Israel to take greater care in protecting civilians, but did not demand a halt to the invasion of Rafah.

“The airstrikes have burned down the tents, the tents are melting and people’s bodies are melting too,” said one of the residents who arrived at the Kuwaiti hospital in Rafah.

A Palestinian Red Crescent spokesman said the death toll was likely to rise as search and rescue efforts continued in the Tal al-Sultan neighborhood of Rafah, about 2 km northwest of the city center. The target of the attack was part of an area designated by Israel as a “humanitarian zone” and was not subject to Israeli evacuation orders earlier this month.

A Palestinian, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said two members of his family were killed in the airstrike, as well as other people who had moved from his hometown to the camp seeking shelter. “The area was attacked despite being declared a safe area by the Israeli army spokesman last Friday,” he said. The Independent.

The aid group ActionAid said its activists witnessed the attack, which it described as an “inhumane and barbaric act”. “We are outraged and deeply saddened by the recent attacks in western Rafah, where Israeli fighter jets fired eight missiles at makeshift shelters for internally displaced persons (IDPs) next to UNRWA warehouses containing vital aid,” the aid group said in a statement.

“These shelters were supposed to be safe havens for innocent civilians, but they have become the target of brutal violence. Children, women and men are being burned alive under their tents and shelters.”

Those housed in the camp described the “terrible” scenes during the strike.

Eklas, 27, originally from northern Gaza, said: “People died from the fire. People did not know where to flee.”

“Fires broke out in the tents. The bodies were burned. I wanted to flee from Rafah to Khan Yunis, but I had no money for transport.

“It has terrified us all, more than one explosion has shaken the place. We don’t know whether we should leave the camp now or stay.”

“We couldn’t sleep last night because of fear, terror and worry.”

Moamen Shawqi, 27, a displaced person in the city of Rafah who lived in the camp, said: “I heard three rockets and a huge, very strong explosion that shook the place. It seems that the rockets used were incendiary devices, because fires broke out in the area.”

“It was a terrible sight. I saw dismembered body parts and charred corpses, there was widespread destruction in the tents of the displaced people, and all public services in the camp were cut off, especially the drinking water supply, the supply of piped water and medical care. It was a difficult night.”

French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his “outrage” over Israel’s recent attacks. “These operations must stop. There are no safe areas for Palestinian civilians in Rafah,” he wrote on X.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and EU High Representative Josep Borrell said the International Court of Justice’s ruling must be respected.

“International humanitarian law applies to everyone, including Israel’s warfare,” said Baerbock.

Israel argues that the UN court’s ruling leaves room for military action there.

On Sunday, the Israeli military said it had intercepted “some” of the eight missiles fired at Israel from the Rafah area in the southern Gaza Strip. The missiles triggered air raid sirens as far away as Tel Aviv. There were no reports of casualties in what appeared to be the first long-range rocket attack from Gaza since January, which triggered air raid sirens as far away as Tel Aviv. Hamas’ military wing claimed responsibility for the rocket attack.

Israel says it wants to locate Hamas fighters holed up in Rafah and free hostages held in the area, but its attack has worsened the situation for civilians and sparked an international outcry.

Medics later said an Israeli airstrike on a house in Rafah on Monday killed seven Palestinians and injured several others.

More than 36,000 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli offensive, the Gaza Strip’s Health Ministry said. Israel launched the operation after Hamas-led militants attacked communities in southern Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli sources.

The Israeli military had previously announced on Sunday that 126 trucks carrying humanitarian aid from southern Israel had entered the Gaza Strip. The reason for this was a new agreement to bypass the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. Israeli forces had previously occupied the Palestinian side of the border crossing earlier this month.

However, it was not immediately clear whether humanitarian organizations would be able to access the supplies – including medical supplies – due to the Israeli offensive in Rafah. UN agencies say it is usually too dangerous to retrieve the aid. The World Health Organization said last week that an expanded Israeli incursion into Rafah would have “catastrophic” consequences.”

On Monday, the Israeli military said it was investigating reports that an exchange of fire between Israeli and Egyptian soldiers took place near the Rafah border crossing with Gaza. An Egyptian military spokesman said one person was killed in gunfire near the Rafah border crossing and that authorities were investigating the incident.