The Israeli strike resulted in multiple casualties – at least 35 people killed and dozens wounded, according to a report by Hamas authorities that cannot be verified – in a Sunday evening explosion in Rafah.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians who fled the fighting following Israel’s late October invasion of the Gaza Strip have taken refuge in the area. While the Israeli army claims to have struck the Hamas complex without violating international law and even killed two Hamas leaders, the Palestinian Red Crescent and the Palestinian Presidency claim that the IDF targeted a refugee camp.
What’s happened ?
Israel admitted that one of its planes “struck a Hamas compound in Rafah where important terrorists were operating,” including two leaders of the movement in the West Bank, Yassin Rabiah and Khaled Nagar. The IDF said it had “removed the head of Hamas headquarters in Judea and Samaria, as well as another senior Hamas official.”
“The strike targeted legitimate targets in accordance with international law, using precision munitions and based on accurate intelligence indicating Hamas was using the area,” she said in a statement.
For their part, the Palestinian Presidency and Hamas accused Israel of committing a “massacre” by targeting a center for displaced people near Rafah. “This brutal massacre carried out by the Israeli occupying forces is a defiance of all international resolutions,” the Palestinian president wrote in a statement, accusing Israel of “deliberately attacking” the Barkasat displaced persons camp run by the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA). northwest of Rafah.
“In light of the horrific Zionist massacre committed this evening by the criminal occupying army against displaced persons’ tents, we call on the masses of our people in the West Bank, Jerusalem, the occupied territories and abroad to rise and march in anger,” the Islamist movement Hamas said in a statement. .
What is the result?
The Palestinian Red Crescent said its ambulances carried a “large number” of people killed or injured in the attack. However, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent, this strike “targeted displaced persons’ tents near the United Nations headquarters”, where many civilians were therefore located.
The NGO clarified that “this place has been declared a humanitarian zone by the Israeli occupation.” Still, the strike was devastating. The broadcast footage shows tents burning. The strike and subsequent fires could have caused the death of several dozen people. Photos and videos show bodies lying on the ground, some of which were burned in the fire.
The blast killed at least 35 people and injured dozens more, according to Hamas authorities in the Gaza Strip.
This was announced by Doctors Without Borders in a press release published on the Doctors Without Borders website.
Strikes were also reported in other areas of Rafah late on Sunday. A Kuwaiti hospital said it had received the bodies of three people, including that of a pregnant woman.
Special context
The strike came hours after the Israeli military reported eight rockets fired from Rafah, triggering warning sirens in Tel Aviv and central Israel for the first time in months.
The UN’s highest court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), also ordered Israel on Friday to suspend its military operations in Rafah, where more than 1.5 million refugees had gathered at the start of those operations. If this decision is considered binding, then Israel continued these strikes on Saturday and Sunday.
Before the devastating strike, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he was “strongly opposed” to ending the war in the Gaza Strip.
An attack on Israeli territory by Hamas commandos on October 7 killed more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians. In response, the Israeli army launched an offensive in the Gaza Strip that killed more than 35,000 people, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas Health Ministry. These numbers cannot be verified.
The Israeli army announced on Sunday the deaths of two soldiers, bringing to 289 the number of its soldiers killed since Israeli troops entered the Gaza Strip on October 27.
In addition, late Sunday, thousands of Israelis attended the funeral of hostage Hanan Yablonka, who was killed on October 7 and whose body was found on Friday in the Gaza Strip. “We have to bring everyone home,” his sister Avivit Jablonka said before the funeral began.
Dramatic humanitarian situation in Rafah
The Rafah checkpoint on the border with Egypt, through which humanitarian aid was delivered, was closed after the start of the Israeli ground operation. “We are suffering from hunger, thirst and a cruel lack of help,” Moaz Abu Taha, a 29-year-old Palestinian, told AFP.
Egypt, which is currently refusing to reopen the Rafah crossing as long as Israeli troops control the Palestinian side, announced on Sunday that aid trucks from Egypt had nevertheless begun to enter the Gaza Strip through the Israeli crossing. Kerem Shalom, according to Al-Al-Shalom. Kahera News. According to these media, a total of “200 trucks” headed towards Kerem Shalom, without specifying how many vehicles were checked.
Meeting in Brussels
Over the weekend, Israeli media reported that Mossad (Israeli intelligence) chief David Barney reached an agreement with CIA Director William Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdelrahman Al-Thani on a new framework for negotiations during a meeting. in Paris.
On Tuesday, Spain, Ireland and Norway will officially recognize the State of Palestine. In this context, EU foreign ministers will meet in Brussels on Monday with their counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, as well as the secretary general of the Arab League.
Source: Le Parisien
I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.
