There could be dozens of deaths. The Palestinian Red Cross announced on Sunday that an Israeli attack on a designated humanitarian area near the town of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip had left “a large number” dead and wounded. The Israeli military spoke of an attack “against legitimate targets”.
“Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance crews are carrying scores of martyrs and wounded after the occupation (Israel) targeted the tents of displaced people northwest of Rafah, the UN headquarters,” the Red Cross said in X, “designated a humanitarian zone by the Israeli occupation.”
The strike took place in a camp in Tal al-Sultan, northwest of Rafah, according to the Red Crescent. Pictures taken at the site by Reuters show an area destroyed by the fire.
The Hamas Health Ministry and the Rafah Governorate Emergency Committee announced a strike on a displaced center near Rafah, which they said left dozens dead and wounded. Hamas’s government media office said at least 35 people were killed and dozens wounded.
Gaza Civil Defense confirmed Israeli strikes in the area, home to around 100,000 displaced people. According to Civil Defense, 50 people were killed or injured.
The NGO Médecins Sans Frontières, for its part, indicated that “more than 15 people died” and “dozens were injured” brought to a trauma center it supports. “We are horrified by this deadly incident, which once again shows that no place is safe,” he added on X.
“The incident remains under investigation,” according to the IDF
The Israeli military said it struck “a Hamas compound in Rafah” in the evening where “major terrorists” from the Palestinian Islamic Organization were operating. He said two senior Hamas officials were killed in a strike targeting the Tal al-Sultan area in the occupied West Bank.
“The strike was carried out against legitimate targets under international law, using precision munitions and based on accurate intelligence,” the army assured in a telegram. In the ensuing fire, several civilians in the area were injured. “The incident is being investigated,” the IDF assured.
“This heinous massacre by the Israeli occupation forces is a challenge to all legitimate international resolutions,” the Palestinian president responded in a statement, accusing Israel of “deliberately targeting” the displaced people’s camp.
“In light of the brutal Zionist massacre this evening by the criminal occupation army against the tents of the displaced, we call on our people in the West Bank, Jerusalem, the occupied territories and abroad to rise and walk in anger,” Hamas wrote in a statement.
Rockets were launched earlier from Rafah
The Israeli military said eight rockets had been fired from Rafah, triggering warning sirens for the first time in Tel Aviv and central Israel.
Despite a chorus of international protest, the Israeli military began operations on May 7 to destroy the last battalions of Hamas in this town in the southern Gaza Strip.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday ordered Israel to immediately halt its operations in the city, which is home to 1.5 million people. Hundreds of thousands of them were forced to leave again when Israeli operations began on May 7.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this Sunday that he was “firmly opposed” to the end of the war.
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