• 45 killed, over 200 injured; many ‘incinerated’ as fire rips through tents of displaced persons after strike
• Tel Aviv faces global outcry; UN demands transparent probe, France urges immediate ceasefire

RAFAH: Israel, which has been operating with complete impunity in Gaza so far, faced an avalanche of international condemnation on Monday over a strike that killed 45 people, including children, at a tent city designated for displaced Palestinians.

Gaza’s civil defence agency said the strike set off a fire that tore through the displacement centre in northwestern Rafah, near a facility of the UN agency for Palestinians, UNRWA.

“We saw charred bodies and dismembered limbs ... We also saw cases of amputations, wounded children, women and the elderly,” said agency official Mohammad al-Mughayyir.

The barbarity of the attack, which targeted what should have been a safe space for displaced Palestinians fleeing Israeli attacks, prompted an international backlash that forced Tel Aviv to adopt an apologetic stance.

In a statement, Israel said it was looking into the “grave and awful” impact on civilians after the latest mass casualty event. The army claimed that Sunday evening’s attack in the southern Rafah area had targeted and killed two senior Hamas operatives — but also sparked a fire.

Breaking his pugnacious streak, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu sounded almost remorseful on Monday, saying that the strike was a “tragic accident”.

He added, “We are investigating the case and will draw the conclusions.”

The UN called on Israel to conduct a “thorough and transparent” investigation into the strike, while EU ministers demanded an explanation from Tel Aviv over its actions in Rafah, despite an International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling calling on it to cease all operations in the area.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called the strike “horrifying” and said “It proves that there is no safe place in Gaza”.

The United States said Israel must make every possible effort to avoid civilian casualties. “As we’ve been clear, Israel must take every precaution possible to protect civilians. We are actively engaging the IDF and partners on the ground to assess what happened,” a National Security Council spokesperson said in a statement.

Pakistan joined the international chorus of condemnation, with the Foreign Office saying that the targeting of individuals who were displaced earlier because of Israeli bombardment and sheltering in a refugee camp was yet another breach of international humanitarian law by the Israeli occupation forces.

“These operations must stop. There are no safe areas in Rafah for Palestinian civilians,” French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X.

The attack also blatantly defies the ICJ order for Israel to immediately halt its military offensive in Rafah, in line with its obligations under the Genocide Convention and the worsening humanitarian conditions faced by civilians.

“I call for full respect for international law and an immediate ceasefire.”

The Egyptian foreign ministry deplored the “tragic event” and denounced the “targeting of defenceless civilians” and “a systematic policy aimed at widening the scope of death and destruction in the Gaza Strip to make it uninhabitable”.

Qatar condemned a “dangerous violation of international law” and voiced “concern that the bombing will complicate ongoing mediation efforts” towards a truce.

Meanwhile, Jordan accused Israel of “ongoing war crimes”, Saudi Arabia condemned “the continued massacres”, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed “to hold these barbarians and murderers accountable”.

Devastation after Israeli strike

“People were not just injured or killed, but charred,” 24-year-old Mohammed Hamad told AFP in the aftermath of the strike that killed at least 45 people.

The health ministry said that 249 people were wounded in the strike.

“My cousin’s daughter, a child no more than 13, was among the martyrs. She had no features at all because shrapnel tore off her face,” Hamad said.

“We had just done with the evening prayers,” recalled one survivor, a woman who declined to be named. “Our children were asleep.

“Suddenly we heard a loud sound and there was fire all around us. The children were screaming.”

Footage released by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society showed chaotic nighttime scenes of ambulances racing to the attack site and evacuating the wounded, including children.

As Palestinians cleared the site on Monday, only blackened metal sheeting and charred planks remained, the tent shelters having been all but obliterated.

At the Tel Al-Sultan Clinic, body bags of white sheeting lay on the floor of a room before the dead were taken away for burial in pickup trucks.

“She was seven months pregnant ... her room was bombed,” a man who did not disclose his name said at the clinic of a woman who had been killed in the incident.

Israel launched the attack hours after Hamas had fired rockets at Tel Aviv and nearby areas though most were intercepted by air defences. “She was preparing to welcome her new baby. What did this innocent child do to deserve this?” he asked.

Published in Dawn, May 28th, 2024