That attack compounded the growing international criticism Israel has faced during its war with Hamas, with even its closest allies expressing outrage over the civilian deaths. The Israeli government insists it is adhering to international law, even as it faces scrutiny from top international courts, one of which last week demanded it stop its offensive in Rafah.
Netanyahu did not offer further details about the mistake. Israel initially claimed it had carried out a precision strike on a Hamas compound, killing two militant leaders. But as details of the attack and fire emerged, the Israeli military announced it had opened an investigation into the civilian deaths.
Sunday night’s attack helped push the Palestinian death toll above 36,000, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not offer a distinction between combatants and non-combatants in its count.
“Despite our best efforts not to harm innocent civilians, there was a tragic accident last night,” Netanyahu declared Monday in a speech to Israel’s Parliament. “We are investigating the incident and will reach a conclusion because it is our policy.”
Mohamed Abuassa, who rushed to the scene in the northwestern neighborhood of Tel al-Sultan, said rescuers pulled out “people who were in an unbearable state.”
“We took out children who were in pieces. We take out young people and older people. The fire in the camp was unreal,” she added.
At least 45 people were killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and the Palestinian Red Crescent rescue service. The ministry indicated that among the dead were at least 12 women, eight children and three elderly adults, and that three other bodies were so burned that they were unrecognizable.
In a separate incident, Egypt’s military said one of its soldiers was killed after being shot during an exchange of fire in the Rafah area, without providing further details. Israel said it was in contact with Egyptian authorities, and both sides indicated they were investigating.
An initial investigation found that the soldier had responded to an exchange of gunfire between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian fighters, state-owned Egyptian television station Qahera reported. Egypt has warned that Israel’s incursion into Rafah could jeopardize the decades-old peace treaty between the two countries.
The UN Security Council scheduled an emergency closed-door meeting for Tuesday afternoon on the situation in Rafah at the request of Algeria, the Arab representative on the Council, two Council diplomats told The Associated Press ahead of an official announcement.
Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, on the border with Egypt, had sheltered more than a million people — about half of Gaza’s population — displaced from other parts of the territory. Most have fled again since Israel launched what it said was a limited incursion there a few weeks ago. Hundreds of thousands of people are packed into squalid tent camps in and around the city.
Elsewhere in Rafah, the director of Kuwait Hospital, one of the last medical centers still operating in the city, said it would close its doors and its staff would relocate to a field hospital. Dr. Suhaib al-Hamas said the decision was made after an attack killed two health workers on Monday at the hospital entrance.
Netanyahu argues that Israel must destroy what he says are the last Hamas battalions in Rafah. The terrorist group launched a series of rockets from the city into densely populated central Israel on Sunday, setting off air raid sirens but causing no injuries.
The attack on Rafah unleashed a new wave of condemnation, even from Israel’s staunchest supporters.
The US National Security Council said in a statement that the images of the attack on Rafah were “heartbreaking”, adding that Washington is working with the Israeli military and others to assess what happened.
French President Emmanuel Macron was more forceful and said on the social network X that “these operations must stop.”
“There are no safe areas in Rafah for Palestinian civilians. I ask for full respect for international law and an immediate ceasefire,” he wrote.
The German Foreign Ministry, which has been a staunch supporter of Israel for decades, said that “the images of charred corpses, even of children, from the airstrike on Rafah are unbearable.”
“The exact circumstances must be clarified, and the investigation announced by the Israeli army must now be carried out quickly,” the ministry added. “The civilian population must be better protected.”
Qatar, a key mediator in attempts to achieve a ceasefire and the release of hostages held by Hamas, warned that the Rafah attack could “complicate” the dialogue. The negotiations, which appear to be resuming, have repeatedly failed over Hamas’s demand for a lasting truce and for Israeli forces to withdraw, terms that Israel has publicly rejected.
The Israeli military’s top legal official, Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, said authorities were examining the attack in Rafah and that the military regrets the loss of civilian life.
Speaking at a conference of Israeli lawyers, Tomer-Yerushalmi said Israel has opened 70 criminal investigations into possible violations of international law, including the deaths of civilians, the conditions at a detention facility holding suspected combatants, and the deaths of some prisoners in Israeli custody. He stated that incidents of property crime and looting are also being examined.
Source: With information from AP
