War between Israel and Hamas: Netanyahu admits “tragic mistake” in attack on Rafah that killed dozens of people

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged Monday that it was a “tragic mistake” after an Israeli strike set fire to a tent camp for displaced Palestinians in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, killing at least 45 people, according to local authorities.

The attack only added to the growing international criticism Israel is facing over its War with Hamasand even its closest allies expressed outrage at the civilian casualties. Israel insists it is complying with international law even as it faces the world’s highest courts, one of which last week demanded that it Stop the offensive in Rafah.

Netanyahu did not elaborate on the error. Israel’s military initially said it had carried out a targeted airstrike on a Hamas compound, killing two high-ranking fighters. When details of the attack and the fire emerged, the military said it had launched an investigation into the civilian deaths.

Sunday night’s attack, apparently one of the deadliest of the war, helped raise the total number of Palestinian deaths in the war to over 36,000, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its count.

“Despite our utmost efforts not to harm innocent civilians, a tragic mistake occurred last night,” Netanyahu said in a speech to the Israeli parliament on Monday. “We are investigating the incident and will reach a conclusion, because that is our policy.”

Mohammed Abuassa, who rushed to the scene of the accident in the northwestern district of Tel al-Sultan, said rescue workers had “pulled out people who were in an unbearable condition.”

“We rescued children who were torn to pieces. We rescued young and old people. The fire in the camp was unreal,” he said.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry and the Palestinian Red Crescent Ambulance Service, at least 45 people were killed. The ministry said that at least 12 women, eight children and three elderly adults were among the dead. Three other bodies were burned beyond recognition.

In another development, the Egyptian military said one of its soldiers was killed in an exchange of fire in the Rafah area, but did not provide further details. Israel said it was in contact with Egyptian authorities and both sides said they were investigating the incident.

An initial investigation found that the soldier had responded to an exchange of fire between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants, Egyptian state broadcaster Qahera TV reported. Egypt warned that Israel’s incursion into Rafah could threaten relations between the two countries. Decades-old peace treaty.

Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost town on the border with Egypt, was home to more than a million people – about half of Gaza’s population – displaced from other parts of the territory. Most have fled again since Israel began a limited invasion there earlier this month. Hundreds of thousands live in squalid tent camps in and around the town.

Elsewhere in Rafah, the director of Kuwait Hospital, one of the city’s last functioning medical centers, said it would close and staff would be moved to a field hospital. Dr. Suhaib al-Hamas said the decision was made after two health workers were killed in a strike at the hospital’s entrance on Monday.

Netanyahu is calling on Israel to destroy the last remaining Hamas battalions in Rafah. The militant group fired a rocket attack from the city on Sunday at the densely populated center of Israel, setting off air raid sirens but causing no casualties.

The attack on Rafah sparked a new wave of condemnation even from Israel’s strongest supporters.

The US National Security Council said in a statement that the “devastating images” of the Rafah attack were “heartbreaking.” It said the US was working with the Israeli military and others to assess what was happening.

French President Emmanuel Macron was even more explicit, demanding in a post on X: “These operations must stop.” “There are no safe zones for Palestinian civilians in Rafah. I call for full respect for international law and an immediate ceasefire,” he wrote.

The Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany, staunch supporter of Israel “The images of the charred corpses, including children, from the airstrike in Rafah are unbearable,” he said.

“The exact circumstances must be clarified and the investigation announced by the Israeli army must now be carried out quickly,” it continued. “The civilian population must finally be better protected.”

Qatar, a key mediator in efforts to broker a ceasefire and release hostages held by Hamas, said the attack on Rafah could “complicate” the talks. The negotiations, which appear to be in the process of resuming, have repeatedly failed over Hamas’s demands for a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces, conditions that the Israeli leadership has publicly rejected.

The Israeli military’s top judicial officer, Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, said authorities were investigating the attack in Rafah and the military regretted the loss of civilian lives.

Speaking at a conference of Israeli lawyers, Tomer-Yerushalmi said Israel had opened 70 criminal investigations into possible violations of international law, including the deaths of civilians, conditions at a detention center where suspected insurgents are held, and the deaths of some detainees in Israeli custody. She said cases of property crimes and looting were also being investigated.

Israel has long claimed it has an independent judiciary capable of investigating and prosecuting human rights abuses. But human rights groups say the Israeli authorities not routinely examined comprehensively Violence against Palestinians, and even when soldiers are held accountable, the punishments are usually lenient.

Israel has rejected the accusations of genocide brought by South Africa before the International Court of Justice. Last week Court condemns Israel to stop the Rafah offensive, a decision it cannot enforce.

The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court requests arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as three Hamas leaders, for alleged crimes related to the war. The ICC intervenes only if it concludes that the state in question is unable or unwilling to properly prosecute such crimes.

Israel says it is doing its best to comply with the laws of war and says it faces an enemy that makes no such commitment, embeds itself in civilian areas and refuses to Israeli hostages unconditionally.

The war was triggered by Hamas with its Attack on Israel on October 7in which Palestinian militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 hostages. Hamas still holds about 100 hostages and the remains of about 30 others, after most of the rest were released under a ceasefire last year.

About 80 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have fled their homes, hunger is severe and UN officials say parts of the territory suffer from famine.

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Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Zeke Miller in Washington, Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin, Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Colleen Barry in Rome contributed to the report.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war