Israeli attack on tent camp in Rafah draws worldwide condemnation

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Dan Williams

CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – An Israeli air strike killed at least 35 people in a tent camp in the Gaza city of Rafah, medics said. European leaders condemned the attack on Monday and called for the implementation of an International Court of Justice ruling to stop the Israeli offensive.

In grim scenes familiar from an eight-month war, Palestinian families rushed to hospitals to prepare their dead for burial after the attack late Sunday night set fire to tents and dilapidated shelters.

Women wept and men prayed next to the bodies hidden in shrouds.

“The whole world is watching Rafah being burned by Israel and nobody is doing anything to stop it,” Bassam, a Rafah resident, said on a chat app about the attack in an area in western Rafah that had been declared a safe zone.

Despite worldwide outrage over the high number of civilian casualties, Israeli tanks continued to bombard the eastern and central areas of the city on Monday, killing eight people, local health officials said.

The Israeli military said Sunday’s airstrike, based on “precise intelligence,” eliminated the militant Hamas group’s chief of staff for the second and larger Palestinian territory, the West Bank, and another official responsible for attacks on Israelis.

Earlier on Sunday, it was reported that eight rockets had been intercepted from the Rafah area. A minister said this showed the need for further operations against Hamas.

However, Israel’s chief military prosecutor described the airstrike as “very serious” and said an investigation would be launched.

“The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) regrets any harm inflicted on non-combatants during the war,” Major General Yifat Tomer Yerushalmi said at a conference on Monday.

The attack took place in the Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood, where thousands had sought shelter after Israeli forces began a ground offensive in eastern Rafah more than two weeks ago.

Many of the dead were women and children, health officials said, adding that the death toll was likely to rise as some of them were in critical condition and had suffered severe burns.

Israel has continued attacks on Rafah despite a ruling by the UN’s top court on Friday ordering it to stop the attacks, arguing that the court ruling gives Israel some leeway for military action there.

Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the ruling must be respected. “International humanitarian law applies to everyone, including Israel’s war effort,” said Baerbock.

NO SAFETY ZONE

By daylight, the camp was a smoking ruin of tents, twisted metal and charred belongings.

Sitting next to the bodies of his relatives, Abed Mohammed Al-Attar said Israel lied when it told residents they were safe in the western areas of Rafah. His brother, sister-in-law and several other relatives were killed in the fire.

“The army is a liar. There is no security in Gaza. There is no security, not for a child, an old man or a woman. Here he (my brother) is with his wife, they were martyred,” he said.

“What have they done to deserve this? Their children have become orphans.”

Hospitals in Rafah, including the International Committee of the Red Cross field hospital, were unable to care for all the injured, so some were transferred to hospitals in Khan Younis, further north in the Gaza Strip, for treatment, medics said.

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees described the situation as appalling. “Gaza is hell on earth. Last night’s images are further proof of this,” UNRWA wrote on X.

The Israeli offensive has killed nearly 36,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Israel launched the operation after Hamas-led militants attacked communities in southern Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.

Israel says it wants to locate Hamas fighters holed up in Rafah and free hostages held in the area.

But the government is facing international protests.

“In addition to the hunger, starvation and the refusal to allow adequate aid, we witnessed barbaric things last night,” said Ireland’s Foreign Minister Micheal Martin.

Egypt condemned the Israeli military’s “deliberate bombing of the displaced people’s tents,” state media reported, calling it a blatant violation of international law.

Saudi Arabia also condemned the Israeli attack and Qatar said the attack on Rafah could hamper mediation efforts for a ceasefire and hostage exchange.

Israeli tanks have been probing the edges of Rafah, near the Gaza-Egypt border crossing, since May 6 and have entered some of the eastern districts.

(Additionally: Dan Williams in Jerusalem; Jana Choukeir and Clauda Tanios in Dubai; Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber in Geneva; Tassilo Hummel; Text: Ros Russell; Editing: Andrew Cawthorne)