Israel: Civilians likely died in fire from strike on Hamas officials; toll at 45 (2024)

An Israeli airstrike ignited a massive blaze, killing 45 people in a tent camp in Gaza's city of Rafah, officials reported on Monday. The incident prompted an outcry from global leaders, who called for the implementation of a World Court ruling to halt Israel's assault.

Footage from the scene of the largest airstrike showed heavy destruction.

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The IDF Spokesperson reported that the army conducted a strike on Sunday in Rafah, targeting senior Hamas members. This action was carried out "according to international law, using precise munitions, and based on prior intelligence indicating the use of the area by Hamas."

The IDF added that it is "aware of the claim that as a result of the strike and subsequent fire a number of uninvolved individuals were hit. The incident is being examined."

Israel's top military prosecutor described the incident as "very grave," adding that "The details of the incident are still under an investigation, which we are committed to conducting to the fullest extent," Major-General Yifat Tomer Yerushalmi told a conference hosted by the Israel Bar Association.

"The IDF regrets any harm to non-combatants during the war."

A spokesperson from the White House National Security Council stated that the U.S. is "aware of reports on an Israeli strike in Rafah and is gathering more information on the matter."

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was in Rafah earlier on Sunday and was briefed on the "deepening of operations" there, his office said.

Qatar said on Monday that the latest Israeli attack on Rafah could hinder mediation efforts to reach a ceasefire and hostage exchange deal, a foreign ministry statement said.

A spokesperson with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the death toll was likely to rise as search and rescue efforts continued in Rafah's Tal al-Sultan neighborhood, about two kilometers (1.2 miles) northwest of the city center.

The society asserted that the location had been designated by Israel as a "humanitarian area." The neighborhood is not included in areas that Israel's military ordered evacuated earlier this month.

UNRWA said on Monday that reports of attacks on families seeking shelter in Rafah in the southern tip of the Gaza Strip were "horrifying".

"Information coming out of Rafah about further attacks on families seeking shelter is horrifying," UNRWA wrote on X.

"There are reports of mass casualties including children and women among those killed. Gaza is hell on earth. Images from last night are yet another testament to that."

A statement from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' office urged for "immediate international intervention" to halt "the crimes and massacre in Rafah."

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri described the attack in Rafah as a "massacre", holding the U.S. responsible for aiding Israel with weapons and money.

"The air strikes burnt the tents, the tents are melting and the people's bodies are also melting," said one of the residents who arrived at the Kuwaiti hospital in Rafah.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he was "outraged" by the strikes, adding that "these operations must stop."

"There are no safe areas in Rafah for Palestinian civilians. I call for full respect for international law and an immediate cease-fire," Macron said.

The EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said on Monday that
Israel is pushing ahead with military action in southern Gaza despite a ruling by the International Court of Justice urging the country to immediately halt its push.

The ICJ must be implemented, Borrell said ahead of a EU foreign ministers' meeting, adding he would also work towards reaching a political decision on the launch of a dedicated EU border assistance mission for the Rafah border crossing known as EUBAM.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that the ICJ's ruling is binding and must be respected,

"No Israeli hostage will be freed if more people now have to shelter in tents," Baerbock said.

"International humanitarian law applies for all, also for Israel's conduct of the war," she added.

Italy said on Monday that Israeli attacks were no longer justifiable in one of the strongest criticisms Rome has made so far against Israel's campaign.

"There is an increasingly difficult situation, in which the Palestinian people are being squeezed without regard for the rights of innocent men, women, and children who have nothing to do with Hamas and this can no longer be justified," Defense Minister Guido Crosetto told a local TV station.

Saudi Arabia, along with several Arab countries also condemned the strike.

Egypt condemned "Israeli forces' deliberate bombing of displaced people's tents in the Palestinian city of Rafah … in a new and blatant violation of the provisions of international law," a Foreign Ministry statement said.

The United Arab Emirates condemned the attack on Monday and said Israel was targeting tents of displaced people in Rafah, the foreign ministry said in a statement. It stressed the importance of implementing the ICJ's ruling that demanded Israel immediately halt its military operations in Rafah.

Jordan and Kuwait condemned "war crimes" committed by Israel in Gaza and urged the international community to compel Israel to adhere to the recent decision of the ICJ, which ordered Israel last week to halt its assault on Rafah.

AIPAC came out with their own strongly-worded statement on Monday, posted to their X account, in which they called the images coming out of Rafah "horrific" and "a terrible tragedy." AIPAC placed the blame for the mass casualties squarely on Hamas, calling them a result of their "evil strategy of hiding its leadership, fighters, and weapons amid and beneath Palestinian civilians."

"Hamas started this war by showcasing its disregard for Israeli lives, and every day since it also shows its disregard for Palestinian lives by using them as human shields," the tweet went on to say. "To help bring an end to this war, international pressure on Hamas must increase to force the terror group to surrender and free the hostages."

The liberal Jewish group J-Street issued a statement calling for an end to operations in Rafah. "We are extremely distressed by images and reports emerging from the displaced persons camp," a post on the group's X account reads. "Operations in Rafah cannot continue without adequate protection for civilians sheltering there, and those forced to flee."

On Friday, the ICJ ordered Israel to halt any military operation in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza that harms civilians.

"Israel must immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah Governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part," the court's president said.