Days after the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to stop its operation in Rafah, Israel hit a tent camp there on Sunday night, killing more than 45 displaced people. As the world condemns the attack, Israel’s war on Gaza continues.
Reportedly, more than half of the dead were women, children, and elderly people, health officials in Hamas-run Gaza said, adding that the death toll was likely to rise from people with severe burns.
According to the reports, Israel said the strike targeted two senior Hamas terrorists. But the attack also apparently hit an area in the Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood in western Rafah where thousands of people were taking shelter, setting blazes that engulfed several tents and shelters.
“The attack was carried out against terrorists who are targets for attack, in accordance with international law, using precision munitions, and based on intelligence indicating the use of the area by Hamas terrorists,” the IDF said in a statement on Sunday night.
The Palestinian Presidency on Monday accused Israel of deliberately targeting civilians, joining a chorus of worldwide condemnation following the attack.
“The perpetration of this heinous massacre by the Israeli occupation forces is a challenge to all international legitimacy resolutions,” the Palestinian presidency said in a statement, accusing Israeli forces of “deliberately targeting” the tents of displaced people.
In a statement on X (formerly Twitter), the United Nations Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA) described the situation in Gaza as hell on earth.”
EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell took to X (formerly Twitter) and condemned the strikes “in the strongest terms.”
“Horrified by news coming out of Rafah on Israeli strikes killing dozens of displaced persons, including small children,” he added.
A Child Beheaded, Not a Rumor This Time
Footages from the night of the Israeli offensive circulated on social media with burnt bodies and beheaded children while the parents cried in horror and grief. The most heartbreaking video that circulated was of a man holding a child in his hand who was beheaded that night.
Like many journalists, activists, and human rights advocates, Mehdi Hassan, a journalist from the Middle East, posted on X, “There are videos coming out of Rafah today of beheaded babies. Actual beheaded babies that you can see for yourselves—not the beheaded babies that the Israeli authorities invented to justify their genocidal assault, or the ones that Biden falsely claimed to have seen pix of.”
Israel’s Reaction
Israel’s top military prosecutor described the attack as “very grave” and said an investigation would be conducted. “The details of the incident are still under investigation, which we are committed to conducting to the fullest extent,” Major-General Yifat Tomer Yerushalmi told a news conference.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that a “tragic mistake” had been made.
World Reacts
Qatar condemned the Rafah attack as a grave violation of international laws that will aggravate the humanitarian crisis in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Qatar, alongside the US and Egypt, has been engaged in months of talks aimed at securing a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry issued a statement accusing Israel of deliberate “bombardment” of the displaced people center and calling on it to “implement the measures ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concerning an immediate cessation of military operations” in Rafah.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his country would do “everything possible” to stop “murders.”
“We will do everything possible to hold these barbarians and murderers accountable who have nothing to do with humanity,” he said
Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said the attacks are a “material breach of the decision of the highest court of the world.”
“We’ve had a compulsory order from the International Court of Justice ordering Israel to stop its attack in Rafah. It is compulsory. It’s binding.” he added
Italy said on Monday that Israeli attacks on Palestinian civilians in Gaza were no longer justifiable, in one of the strongest criticisms Rome has made so far against Israel’s campaign.
Israel’s offensive has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians. More than 15,000 children are dead and tens of thousands are unaccompanied or separated from their families from 7th October till date.
Nearly 85% of the population are estimated to be internally displaced—with many having been displaced multiple times.
The number of Palestinians in need of help will continue to increase as violence continues. Only a permanent end to the fighting will offer civilians safety.
