According to the Red Cross, 22 people were killed in an attack near an office in Gaza

The International Committee of the Red Cross said 22 people were killed in a grenade attack on Friday. The committee’s office in the Gaza Strip was damaged. The office is surrounded by hundreds of displaced people living in tents.

The ICRC did not provide any information on who fired the “heavy caliber shells,” but said in a statement on social media platform X that the grenades had “damaged the structure of the ICRC office.”

It said 22 bodies and 45 wounded were taken to a nearby Red Cross field hospital after the attack and there were “reports of further casualties”.

The area’s health ministry said the attack, which Israel blamed, left 25 people dead and 50 injured. The ministry said Israeli shelling hit “the tents of the displaced people in the Al-Mawasi area,” near the ICRC base.

An Israeli army spokesman did not admit any involvement in the incident but said the incident was being “investigated.”

“An initial investigation found that there is no evidence that the IDF carried out an attack in the humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi. The incident is currently under investigation,” the spokesman said. AFP.

The ICRC said: “On Friday afternoon, heavy-caliber shells landed just a few meters from the offices and residences of the International Committee of the Red Cross.”

“Setting fire in such dangerous proximity to humanitarian facilities, whose locations are known to the parties to the conflict and which are clearly marked with the Red Cross emblem, endangers the lives of civilians and Red Cross staff,” the panel added.

“This serious security incident is one of several in recent days,” it continued.

“In the past, stray bullets have reached the ICRC’s structures. We condemn these incidents, which endanger the lives of humanitarian workers and civilians.”

The ICRC is making increasingly desperate appeals to the warring parties to respect international law and protect civilians involved in the conflict that broke out on 7 October.

ICRC chief Mirjana Spoljaric called on both sides to do more to protect civilians, “no matter which side they are on,” saying it was “the line between humanity and barbarism.”