As international condemnation grew, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that the death of dozens of people a day earlier at a camp for displaced Palestinians in Rafah was “a tragic accident” but that there was no There are signs that Israel will curb its offensive in the region.
The deadly fire at the camp following Sunday’s airstrikes comes at a particularly delicate moment for Israel, just days after the International Court of Justice appeared to order the country’s military to halt its offensive on Rafah and diplomats were planning to restart it negotiation.
The Israeli military said Sunday’s attack in Rafah targeted a Hamas compound and that “precision munitions” were used to target a commander and another senior armed official there.
But according to Gaza’s health ministry, at least 45 people, including children, were killed in the explosion and the fire it caused. The ministry said 249 people were injured.
Speaking in the Knesset on Monday, Netanyahu said the military was trying to protect non-combatants by issuing evacuation orders, adding that about a million civilians had left Rafah before or during the offensive. “Despite our best efforts not to harm uninvolved civilians, we regret that a tragic incident occurred last night,” he said.
He accused Hamas of hiding among the general population, saying: “For us, every unrelated civilian injured is a tragedy. For Hamas, it’s a strategy. That’s the whole difference.”
As images of death and mutilation appeared on screens around the world, there was an immediate outpouring of condemnation. The latest condemnation appears likely to make it harder for Israel to continue its fight against Hamas in the town of Rafah, the southern city where about one million displaced Gazans have fled.
On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron, an ally of Israel, said he was “outraged” by the airstrikes in Rafah and declared that they “must stop.” He called for “full respect for international law and an immediate ceasefire.”
The Israeli government invaded Gaza after Hamas-led attacks killed about 1,200 people. Early Sunday, Hamas militants fired rockets deep into central Israel from the city, which Israelis say is a stronghold, for the first time in months.
But with Rafah hosting displaced Gazans forced into the city by earlier fighting in the north, world leaders have warned of the danger of a major military operation there.
Sunday’s deaths appear to be exactly what those urging Israel to proceed with caution fear.
Bilal al-Sapti, 30, a construction worker in Rafah, said he saw charred bodies among the rubble of the camp and heard firefighters trying to douse the flames people screamed. “The fire was very intense and spread throughout the entire camp,” he said.
Dr. Marwan Hames works at Tal Al-Sultan Health Center, where many of the injured first arrived. “Many of the bodies were severely burned, their limbs had been amputated and they had been torn into pieces,” he said.
In a statement, Hamas described the Israeli attack on Rafah as a “horrible war crime” and demanded the “immediate and urgent implementation” of the World Court’s ruling. The group did not address the Israeli military’s claim that two Hamas officials were killed in the attack.
The Israeli military said it had taken a series of measures ahead of the attack to reduce the risk of harm to civilians, including conducting aerial surveillance and using precision munitions. “Based on these measures, it is assessed that no harm to uninvolved civilians is expected,” the statement read.
But an Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive issues, said on Monday that the military’s preliminary investigation concluded that the attack or shrapnel from it may have accidentally ignited flammable materials in the camp. Witnesses described intense fires that followed the attack.
Military drone footage of the attack reviewed by The New York Times showed several large cabin-like structures and parked cars in the area where the munitions struck.
Two Israeli officials said the attack occurred outside a designated humanitarian zone set up to provide safe haven for evacuees. officers Made a map Shows the location of its alleged strike relative to the area.
The military identified two targets of the attack as Yassin Rabi, a commander in the Hamas leadership in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and Khaled Nagar, a senior official in the same unit of the group. Nagar).
In a vaguely worded order, the International Court of Justice, which is hearing charges that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, called on Israel to immediately cease any actions in Rafah that “could cause harm to Palestinians.” will result in total or partial physical destruction.
Israeli officials argued that the 13-2 ruling allowed it to continue fighting in Rafah because it would not create such a genocidal situation. But some of Israel’s allies don’t see the order that way. Even before the latest civilian deaths, German Deputy Chancellor Robert Habeck said the offensive against Rafah was “incompatible with international law.”
Israel’s war cabinet met late Sunday to discuss continued efforts to reach a ceasefire that would bring freedom to the hostages taken in the Oct. 7 attack, an Israeli official said, requesting the request due to the sensitivity of the matter. anonymous.
Diplomats aim to restart talks sometime next week, according to three officials briefed on the proceedings. Preliminary discussions have taken place this weekend in Paris, according to officials.
Report contributors: Error Yazbek, Abu Bakr Bashir, She is Abu Hewila, Patrick Kingsley, Myra Novick and Jonathan Rice.
