The Israeli military said it stepped up ground attacks in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday despite growing international outrage over its actions in the southern Gaza Strip, including a weekend air strike that killed dozens of civilians. die.
The military said its forces were engaged in close combat with Hamas militants and had sent an additional “combat team” to Rafah, without specifying how many soldiers were being sent to the southern city.
An airstrike in Rafah on Sunday sparked a deadly fire that killed at least 45 people and targeted a Hamas compound, the military said.
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the killing of civilians in the camp, many of whom had been displaced from other parts of Gaza, was a “tragic accident.”
However, his comments did little to quell the chorus of calls for accountability and an end to the fighting, with another deadly attack reported in nearby Mawasi on Tuesday.
Gaza official Dr. Mohammed Al Moghayer of the Palestinian Civil Defense said at least 21 people were killed and dozens injured in an attack on displaced persons tents in Al-Mawasi, not far from the city of Rafah, on Tuesday. Israel declares the Al-Mawasi area a humanitarian safe zone. Tuesday’s attack appeared to have occurred near the humanitarian zone, but not within it, according to footage verified by The New York Times.
The Israeli military had previously told civilians to head to Mawasi but said the attack was not within the safe zone.
Video verified by The Times showed numerous deaths and injuries in a farming area of Al-Mawasi where civilians had sought refuge. Video confirmed by The Times showed chaotic scenes with women and children screaming at bodies on the ground.
The New York Times verified the location of the video by matching footage from the aftermath of the incident with satellite imagery of the area, but could not immediately verify whether the damage was caused by an Israeli airstrike.
About one million people have fled Rafah amid Israeli attacks, according to the United Nations. The exodus from Rafah, once a major destination for people seeking refuge in other parts of the enclave, is the latest in a series of displacements since Israel launched a war to dismantle Hamas. organize.
Vice President Kamala Harris said on Tuesday that Sunday’s airstrikes that ignited camp fires were “a tragedy that’s not even a word.”
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on Tuesday that the United States had expressed “deep concern” to the Israeli government about the attack and requested more information about the attack and the resulting fires.
“Israel has indicated that there may be a Hamas ammunition depot near the area where they launched the attack,” Mr. Miller said. “This is a very important factual question that needs to be answered.”
Miller said the U.S. position is that “we do not want to see a large-scale military operation in Rafah” on the scale of previous Israeli attacks on Khan Younis and Gaza City. “Right now, we’re not seeing military action on the scale that we’ve seen before,” Mr. Miller said.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron on Tuesday cited the “deeply saddening” scenes of Sunday’s attack on the Rafah camp – with bodies shown on video charred beyond recognition – and called for a “swift and comprehensive” investigation.
Israeli military spokesman Maj. Gen. Daniel Hagari told a news conference on Tuesday that an investigation was examining “all possibilities” to determine what caused Sunday’s fire at the camp, including whether weapons “were stored in In the next courtyard.” achieve our goals. “
He said Israeli warplanes fired the “smallest munitions” at their disposal, insisting that “our munitions alone could not have ignited a fire of this magnitude”.
Admiral Hagari said that even if the cause of the fire is determined, “it will not make the situation any less tragic.”
Gen. Hagari stopped short of saying the Israeli military would halt operations in Rafah, where Hamas fired rockets from Rafah early Sunday, sounding the alarm in Tel Aviv for the first time in months. He did not directly answer a reporter’s question about whether tanks had moved into the center of Rafah, saying Hamas camps remained in the city and Israeli forces were operating in a “targeted” manner.
China on Tuesday joined a growing number of countries condemning Israel’s actions. Beijing expressed “serious concern” over Israeli military actions in Rafah, citing an International Court of Justice order issued last week that appeared to require Israel to halt its military offensive in the city. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said China “opposes any violation of international law” and “strongly urges Israel to listen to the voice of the international community and stop attacking Rafah.”
But the wording of the court order was vague – calling on Israel to immediately cease any actions in Rafah that “could create living conditions for Palestinian groups in Gaza that would lead to their total or partial physical destruction”. Israeli officials argued that the ruling allowed it to continue fighting in Rafah because the military would not have created such conditions.
Residents of Rafah and surrounding areas reported heavy bombardment.
“It was a bloody and very difficult night,” said Nedal Kuhail, 30. apartment. “Danger pursues us from all sides.”
Tal Sultan is in the same area that Israel said was a deadly attack on a Hamas compound on Sunday, killing two of the group’s commanders.
Kuhail said by phone that an explosion occurred on the lower level of his building on Monday night and that another nearby apartment was also hit. He said he saw several people killed or injured. “This prompted our quick decision to leave Rafah in order to survive,” he said.
Kuhail estimated that more than 85 percent of his region’s remaining population had fled since Tuesday morning as terror attacks continued throughout the night. Video released by Reuters on Tuesday showed people leaving parts of Rafah, some on foot and others in carts, as explosions and gunfire echoed through the streets.
Mr. Kuhair said he found an empty warehouse for his family to rent in the Deir al-Balah area of central Gaza. Although the warehouse is empty and has no power, water or bathrooms, Kuhair said he is thankful he at least has a place to go, unlike so many others who have fled.
Report contributors: Alijeta Leka, Christian Tribert, She is Abu Hewila, Alexandra Stevenson, Jonathan Rice, Abu Bakr Bashir and Stephen Crowley
