Israeli missiles hit tents in an area west of the town of Rafah that was supposed to be safe from attacks.
Gaza officials say the death toll from Israeli airstrikes on a camp housing displaced Palestinians near Rafah in the southern part of the Strip has risen to 45.
The enclave’s health ministry said Monday that 45 people, including 23 women, children and the elderly, were killed in the attack and 249 others injured.
Witnesses said at least eight missiles hit the camp – a designated safe zone – on Sunday evening around 8:45 p.m. local time (17:45 GMT).
Wafa news agency, citing the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), said many of the dead were “burned alive” in their tents in the Tal as-Sultan area.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s Sanad fact-checking agency said the attacks targeted the Brix camp, west of the town of Rafah. An aerial photograph taken on May 24 shows hundreds of tents in the area near an UNRWA warehouse.
The Israeli attack follows the first Hamas rocket attack on the Israeli city of Tel Aviv in months.
Israel said the eight Hamas rockets were launched from the Rafah area, where its forces continued their ground attacks despite an order from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to stop their operations.
The Israeli military said its air forces struck a Hamas compound in Rafah and that the strike was carried out with “precise munitions and based on precise intelligence.”
The attack killed Hamas’ chief of staff for the West Bank and another senior official behind deadly attacks on Israelis, he said, adding that he was “aware” of the attacks. reports that “several civilians in the area had been injured” and that the incident was “underreported”. goodbye”.
The attack caused a massive fire, which Palestinian Civil Defense teams managed to extinguish after about 45 minutes.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said its field hospital in Rafah was receiving an influx of wounded and other hospitals were also receiving large numbers of patients.
“The airstrikes have burned the tents, the tents are melting and people’s bodies are also melting,” said one of the residents who arrived at the Kuwaiti Rafah hospital, according to the Reuters news agency.
Doctors Without Borders, known by its acronym MSF, said “dozens of injured” as well as more than 15 dead had been transported to a facility it supports.
“We are horrified by this deadly event, which shows once again that nowhere is safe,” the group wrote on the social network X, reiterating its call for an immediate ceasefire.
The Gaza ministry added that at least 36,050 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war and 81,026 have been injured.
