Israeli Airstrike Kills Dozens in Tent Camp in Rafah, Gazan Officials Say
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“An Israeli airstrike on a makeshift tent camp for displaced Palestinians in Rafah, Gaza, killed at least 45 people on Sunday night and wounded 249, the Gaza Health Ministry said on Monday. The Israeli military said the strike was aimed at a Hamas compound.
In a statement, the Israeli military said it was looking into reports that “several civilians in the area were harmed” by the airstrike and a subsequent fire. A follow-up statement said the strike had killed two Hamas leaders. A legal official with the military said Monday that the strike was under review.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said that its ambulance crews had taken a “large” number of victims to the Tal as Sultan clinic and field hospitals in Rafah, where few functioning hospitals remain, and that “numerous” people had been trapped in fires at the site of the strikes.
Key Developments
President Emmanuel Macron of France said Monday he was “outraged” by an Israeli attack in Rafah that the authorities in Gaza said killed dozens of people. “These operations must stop,” he said, referring to the strike on Sunday. “There are no safe areas in Rafah for Palestinian civilians.” Mr. Macron called “for full respect for international law and an immediate ceasefire.” His comments came after the International Court of Justice on Friday ordered Israel to halt its offensive in the city and added to a drumbeat of criticism of Israel over its conduct in the war.
Aid trucks from Egypt have entered the Gaza Strip under a new U.S.-brokered agreement to reopen a vital conduit for humanitarian relief, the Israeli military and the Egyptian Red Crescent said. Some 126 trucks from Egypt containing food, fuel and other necessities entered the Gaza Strip through Kerem Shalom on Sunday, the Israeli military said in a statement. The trucks were inspected by Israeli officials, said Ahmad Ezzat, an Egyptian Red Crescent official.
Germany’s vice chancellor, Robert Habeck, has said that Israel’s offensive in Rafah is “incompatible with international law.” His comments were reportedon Saturday by the country’s public broadcaster, Deutsche Welle. Senior German officials had previously warned Israel against attacking Rafah, but Mr. Habeck’s comments appear to represent a hardening of that tone in a country with a longstanding policy of support for Israel. “Israel must not carry out this attack, at least not in the way it did in the Gaza Strip before, bombing refugee camps and so on,” Mr. Habeck said.
Israel’s war cabinet met on Sunday night to discuss continuing efforts to reach a cease-fire deal and free hostages held in Gaza, according to an Israeli official who spoke on the condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the talks. Diplomats are aiming to restart negotiations for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas at some point in the next week, according to three officials briefed on the process. According to the officials, preliminary discussions were held this weekend in Paris.
Hamas launched a barrage of rockets at central Israel on Sunday afternoon, setting off air-raid sirens in the Tel Aviv area for the first time since at least late January, and showing that the group retains some long-range missile capabilities more than seven months into Israel’s war against the militant group in Gaza.
The Israeli military said at least eight rockets were fired from the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where Israeli forces have been advancing in an operation against Hamas that has drawn global scrutiny. Over 800,000 Palestinians have fled Rafah in the face of the Israeli offensive, deepening the humanitarian crisis in the enclave, according to the United Nations.
Air defenses shot down “a number” of rockets, according to the Israeli military, and there were no immediate reports of major damage.“
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