At least 21 people were killed in Israeli attacks on a tent camp housing displaced families in al-Mawasi, near the southern Gaza town of Rafah, according to Palestinian medical officials and the official news agency. Palestinian, a few days after an Israeli strike on another camp. worldwide condemnation.
At least 12 of those killed in attacks in Rafah governorate on Tuesday were women, medical officials in the Palestinian enclave said.
Gaza’s health ministry said in a telegram that 64 people were injured in the attack, including 10 in critical condition.
The WAFA news agency reported that the area was hit by Israeli airstrikes.
The Israeli army denied carrying out a strike in al-Mawasi.
“Contrary to reports in recent hours, the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) did not strike in the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone,” the army said in a statement.
Israel had previously designated Al-Mawasi, in western Rafah, as a humanitarian zone to which Palestinians should evacuate for their safety.
“Israeli forces targeted another makeshift tent (area) where most people were women and children,” Tel Aviv Tribune’s Hind Khoudary said from Deir el-Balah.
“Palestinians do not trust Israeli forces because every time they are reassigned, they are targeted,” Khoudary said, referring to displaced families who had sought refuge in southern Gaza after fleeing bombings elsewhere in the territory.
“There is simply no safe area in the Gaza Strip,” she said.
“There are no hospitals in Rafah. All the wounded and dead bodies were transferred to the International Medical Corps field hospital. There are no ambulances.
Footage shared on social media and verified by Tel Aviv Tribune’s Sanad fact-checking agency shows what appears to be several people killed and injured after an attack.
People are seen frantically tending to the bloodied victims and covering the bodies of those killed with blankets.
The Palestinian president’s spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, called the latest Israeli attack on Rafah a “massacre” and called for the implementation of an International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling ordering Israel to end its offensive on Rafah.
Israel continued to press ahead with its offensive despite a ruling Friday by the U.N.’s top court ordering its halt, saying the court ruling gives it some leeway for military action in Rafah.
Kuwait specialist hospital forced to close its doors
The attack on the displaced persons camp came two days after an attack on a camp in the Tal as-Sultan area near Rafah that killed 45 Palestinians. After the attack, a fire spread quickly, razing the camp.
The Wafa news agency, citing the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), said many of those who died were “burned alive” in their tents.
Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said Tuesday that Israeli munitions alone “could not” cause the deadly fire.
“Our munitions alone could not have started a fire of this magnitude,” Hagari said during a press briefing on the preliminary findings of the army’s investigation into the attack.
Hamas, the Palestinian group that governs Gaza, called on the UN to act to end Israeli attacks on tents sheltering displaced families in Rafah.
“The international community, the UN Security Council and the ICJ must act urgently and take immediate measures to end these serious violations and protect civilians, especially women and children,” Hamas said in a press release.
At its most populous, Rafah was home to around 1.5 million people, most of whom are now on the move, trying to escape Israeli tanks and air raids.
Aid agencies and the UN have warned that the widely criticized Rafah offensive is worsening an already dire humanitarian situation in the besieged and bombed enclave.
The forced expulsion of Palestinians has made it increasingly difficult for aid workers to distribute dwindling aid to families facing catastrophic levels of hunger.
Israel took control of the Palestinian side of the vital Rafah border crossing with Egypt on May 7, shortly after launching its long-threatened military offensive in the crowded area.
It continues to bar the entry of humanitarian supplies, including essential fuel. Rare amounts of aid have been used to enter the Gaza Strip via the crossing since Israel launched its latest attack on Gaza on October 7.
The lack of fuel and medicine has led to the closure of several hospitals in Gaza. Kuwait’s specialist hospital was knocked out of service following the Israeli attacks, Palestinian officials said Tuesday, leaving only one operational hospital in the city.