The White House called on Israel to take all possible precautions to protect Palestinian civilians, a day after the massacre that targeted displaced people in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip and sparked widespread international condemnation.
In a statement issued early Tuesday, the White House described the image that followed the Israeli raid on a camp for displaced people in Rafah as horrific.
The statement spoke of communication with the Israeli army and what it described as partners on the ground to assess what happened.
The Israeli bombing of the displaced persons camp in Rafah resulted in the death of at least 45 people and the injury of about 250 others, most of them women and children, according to the latest toll published by the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
The coordinator of strategic communications at the US National Security Council, John Kirby, had previously adopted the Israeli narrative that the raid targeted two leaders of the Hamas movement. He said that Israel has the right to pursue the movement, but he called on Tel Aviv to take all possible measures to protect civilians, and described the images of the raid as Heart-breaking catastrophe.
On the other hand, Democratic representatives denounced the Israeli raid and called on President Joe Biden to fulfill his promise regarding stopping some weapons supplies to Israel. Representative Rashida Tlaib, the only American of Palestinian origin in Congress, described Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as obsessed with genocide.
Israel had claimed that the raid on the refugee camp in Rafah targeted two Hamas leaders, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later spoke of a “catastrophic mistake” that required the opening of an investigation.
As for the Hamas movement, it denied the Israeli claim that there were armed men at the targeted site, and said that it was a shameless claim.
Widespread condemnation
The massacre of displaced people in Washington sparked widespread condemnation across the world, and pushed more demonstrators to the streets in a number of countries.
The United Nations condemned the targeting of displaced people in Rafah, and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that there is no safe place in Gaza, calling for an end to these atrocities.
In this context, the United Nations Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, told Tel Aviv Tribune that Israel has been granted freedom to continue its acts of genocide.
Arab countries, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, denounced the massacre and demanded that Israel be obligated to implement the decision of the International Court of Justice regarding the cessation of its military operations in Rafah.
Europe: European Union Foreign Policy Commissioner Josep Borrell called after a European ministerial meeting on Gaza for the necessity of implementing the International Court of Justice’s decision demanding that the attack on Rafah be stopped.
European countries, including France and Spain, also issued separate statements condemning the bombing of displaced people in Rafah.
For his part, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the massacre of the displaced persons camp in Rafah reveals the bloody and treacherous face of the “terrorist state,” as he described it, stressing that his country will do everything in its power to hold accountable those he described as murderers and barbarians.
Countries in Latin America also condemned the Rafah massacre, and Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ivan Gil Pinto called for Israel to be tried for its crimes in Gaza.
Similar positions were issued by several countries in Asia, including Malaysia, which described the Israeli bombing of the displaced persons camp in Rafah as deliberate genocide.
The African Union also condemned the massacre, and said, “Israel continues to violate international law with complete impunity and in defiance of the ruling of the International Court of Justice.”
Security Council meeting
Meanwhile, diplomatic sources said that the UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting today, Tuesday, to discuss the situation in Rafah following the Israeli massacre in Rafah.
Diplomatic sources had told Tel Aviv Tribune that Algeria called for a closed and emergency Security Council consultation session on Tuesday regarding the Rafah massacre.
The United States has previously thwarted several moves in the Security Council to condemn Israel or stop the war on Gaza by using its veto.