At least 50 people have been killed in a new Israeli attack on a refugee camp in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, as reported by the Palestinian Health and Emergency Services and later confirmed by the Israeli Army.
“Another atrocious massacre was committed by Israeli forces in Rafah, which has so far claimed the lives of 50 martyrs and dozens of wounded, most of them children and women,” said a spokesman for the Gaza Ministry of Health. Images spread on Palestinian social networks show a large fire caused by aerial bombardment on temporary tents in Tal al Sultan.
The bombing took place in the Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood, west of Rafah, where thousands of people were taking refuge after fleeing the eastern areas of the city, following the Israeli ground offensive that intensified two weeks ago, according to Reuters. . “Never before in history have such a large number of tools of mass killing been used in front of the world as is happening now in Gaza, where the population is deprived of water, food, medicine, electricity and fuel, crushing infrastructure and destroying all institutions,” denounced the Gaza Ministry of Health, controlled by Hamas.
Palestinian authorities report that more than 10 displacement centers, including the one next to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees where this latest massacre occurred, were attacked in the last 24 hours in Jabalia and Gaza City, al north, Nusseirat, in the center, and Rafah, in the south of the Strip. “These centers house tens of thousands of displaced civilians, especially women and children,” they denounce.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has stated that its field hospital in Rafah is receiving a large number of victims, as well as other hospitals in the area. A spokesman has pointed out to Al Jazeera that the health system in Gaza is “incapable” of coping with the situation in Rafah.
The Red Crescent has also indicated in X that its ambulance teams were transporting a large number of victims and that the attack was near the United Nations headquarters. He also recalled that “the place was designated by the Israeli occupation as a humanitarian zone and citizens were forced to move there.” “Currently, many people remain trapped under the flames and in the shops destroyed by the bombing,” he added.
The president of the Palestinian National Authority, Nabil Abu Rudeina, has condemned this “deliberate attack by the occupation army” on tents of displaced people in Rafah, causing a “massacre that has exceeded all limits and requires urgent intervention to immediately stop these crimes against the Palestinian people.” For its part, the Israeli Army describes the attack as “precise” and considers it directed against two senior Hamas officials.
The organization Doctors Without Borders has declared itself “horrified” by the massacre, “which once again shows that nowhere is safe.” MSF indicates that they have treated “dozens of people injured” by the attack and have confirmed the death of “more than 15 people.” “We continue to call for an immediate and sustained ceasefire in Gaza,” they ask.
Protests in the West Bank
Israel’s bloody attack on Rafah comes hours after Hamas fired eight rockets at Tel Aviv, in an attack that caused no injuries or major damage. As of this Sunday, the death toll in Gaza from the Israeli offensive exceeded 35,900.
In the West Bank, hundreds of Palestinians have taken to the streets in various cities, including in hot spots such as Jenin and Tulkarm, in protest of this latest attack.
Already this Monday, the Islamist organization Hamas issued a statement calling on the Palestinian population to “escalate public activities of anger and pressure to stop the aggression and genocidal war” after the Israeli bombing. “We call on our people in the West Bank, Jerusalem, the occupied interior and abroad to rise up and carry out marches of rage against the Zionist massacre against our people in the Gaza Strip,” they claim.
Likewise, Hamas has asked countries to denounce the war and demand compliance with United Nations resolutions, especially the order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for the “immediate” halt of the offensive against Rafah, issued Saturday.
The secular Fatah movement, at the head of the Palestinian National Authority that governs the West Bank, has described the massacre in another statement as a reflection of the failure of the “defeated” Israeli Army “in its fight against the Palestinian resistance.” “The American Administration and some European countries are partners in this massacre that targeted defenseless children, women and the elderly,” they say.
Two days after the ICJ order
This Friday, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to “immediately” stop the offensive in Rafah, after South Africa requested two weeks ago that the court issue urgent precautionary measures against the Israeli attack against that town, which began on May 6. and has since caused the displacement of some 800,000 Palestinians who had taken refuge in the southern tip of Gaza.
Source: www.eldiario.es
