War between Israel and Gaza: Red Cross reports at least 22 deaths in attack on displaced civilians

CNN
—

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), at least 22 people were killed in an attack on civilians sheltered in the south of the Gaza Strip on Friday.

The attack hit the tents of displaced people in the Palestinian town of Mawasi, parts of which the Israeli military had designated as a humanitarian zone.

Israel stepped up its operations in nearby Rafah, where it launched an offensive last month as part of its campaign to crush Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

After the attack, 22 bodies and 45 injured people were brought to a nearby Red Cross field hospital, the ICRC said.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) blamed Israel for the attack and said it was dealing with numerous casualties. Gaza’s Health Ministry said 25 people were killed and 50 wounded in the attack. CNN cannot confirm the casualty figures.

The Israeli military said it was investigating the incident, but initial investigations had found “no evidence” that it was behind the attack in Mawasi. Part of Mawasi – on the coast – has been designated a humanitarian zone.

According to the ICRC, one of its facilities was damaged in the attack.

In a post on X, the ICRC did not claim responsibility for the attack, but said: “The ICRC office – which is surrounded by hundreds of displaced civilians living in tents – was damaged by artillery fire near Gaza. Shelling so dangerously close to humanitarian facilities puts the lives of civilians and humanitarian workers at risk.”

It was said that “heavy-caliber projectiles” hit just a few meters from the facility.

The ICRC said the incident was one of several in recent days after stray bullets hit ICRC buildings.

It stated that the parties to the conflict were obliged to “take all possible precautions to prevent harm to the civilian population”.

Tens of thousands of people have fled to Mawasi in recent weeks as Israeli operations expanded in Rafah to the south. In recent days, Israeli military operations have expanded to the west and north of Rafah, according to reports from Gaza, and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they had encountered significant resistance from Hamas militants.

PRCS spokesman Raed al-Nims told CNN on Saturday that the Israeli army was pursuing “intense attacks on supposedly safe areas in Mawasi, Khan Younis and Rafah.”

The PRCS said that “the situation in Rafah is very difficult. There are numerous martyrs on the streets and in the camps that no one can reach.”

Mohammed Al-Mughair, a civil defense official in Rafah, told CNN that parts of central and western Rafah have come under fire since Friday and that the Israeli army is now about a kilometer from the coast.

For its part, the Israeli military said on Saturday that troops were continuing their “intelligence-based, targeted operations in the Rafah area.”

Meanwhile, the closure of the Rafah border crossing from Egypt and the insecure situation near the Kerem Shalom crossing in the south of the Gaza Strip have led to serious shortages in humanitarian aid, according to several organizations.