Israeli army says it used small munitions in Rafah airstrike, and fire was caused by secondary blast
The Israeli military says an initial investigation into a strike that sparked a deadly weekend fire in a tent camp in the southern Gaza city of Rafah has found the blaze was caused by a secondary explosion.
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the chief military spokesman, said Tuesday that the military fired two 17-kilogram (37-pound) munitions that targeted two senior Hamas militants. He said the munitions would have been too small to ignite a fire on their own and the military is looking into the possibility that weapons were stored in the area.
Palestinian health officials say at least 45 people, around half of them women and children, were killed in Sunday’s strike. The fire also could have ignited fuel, cooking gas canisters or other materials in the densely populated camp housing displaced people.
The strike caused widespread outrage, including from some of Israel’s closest allies. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was the result of a “tragic mishap.”
New strikes in the same western Tel al-Sultan district of Rafah that was hit Sunday killed at least 16 Palestinians, the Palestinian Civil Defense and the Palestinian Red Crescent said Tuesday. Residents reported an escalation of fighting in the southern Gaza city once seen as the territory’s last refuge.
Netanyahu has vowed to press ahead, saying Israeli forces must enter Rafah to dismantle Hamas and return hostages taken in the Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war. Israel says it is carrying out limited operations in eastern Rafah along the Gaza-Egypt border. But residents reported heavy bombardment overnight in Tel al-Sultan.
ShareAl Jazeera reports that the death toll in a new Israeli airstrike on an area where displaced Palestinians are being forced to shelter in tents has risen to 21.
","elementId":"684ea173-82a2-46ee-aebf-4e454bdfc3f5"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"It said the air raid targeted al-Mawasi in western Rafah, an area which Israel’s military had designated as a humanitarian area.
","elementId":"0ab59786-723b-4fa3-adf1-5a22835a73d3"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"For the news network, which this month was banned from operating inside Israel by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, Hind Khoudary reported that at least 13 of those killed were women.
","elementId":"bf85ac65-d460-44f7-be2f-bf2f95e34a09"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"She wrote “Israeli forces targeted another makeshift tent [area] where most of the people were women and children. All the injured and the dead bodies have been transferred to the International Medical Corps field hospital. There are no ambulances. It’s catastrophic and horrifying being injured and not being able to get transferred from one place to another because of lack of fuel.”
","elementId":"623e5814-ec52-441b-82c7-dd089d63cb70"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"The claims have not been independently verified.
","elementId":"039539a2-3b43-40c1-99c4-8a369897a108"}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1716908077000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"10.54 EDT","blockLastUpdated":1716908327000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"10.58 EDT","blockFirstPublished":1716908327000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"10.58 EDT","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"10.58","title":"Death toll in new Israeli air attack on displaced people in Rafah rises to 21 – reports","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Tue 28 May 2024 11.26 EDT","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Tue 28 May 2024 03.21 EDT"},{"id":"6655d96c8f08b9b585c77d2f","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"The Israeli military says an initial investigation into a strike that sparked a deadly weekend fire in a tent camp in the southern Gaza city of Rafah has found the blaze was caused by a secondary explosion.
\n Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the chief military spokesman, said Tuesday that the military fired two 17-kilogram (37-pound) munitions that targeted two senior Hamas militants. He said the munitions would have been too small to ignite a fire on their own and the military is looking into the possibility that weapons were stored in the area.
\n Palestinian health officials say at least 45 people, around half of them women and children, were killed in Sunday’s strike. The fire also could have ignited fuel, cooking gas canisters or other materials in the densely populated camp housing displaced people.
\n The strike caused widespread outrage, including from some of Israel’s closest allies. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was the result of a “tragic mishap.”
\n New strikes in the same western Tel al-Sultan district of Rafah that was hit Sunday killed at least 16 Palestinians, the Palestinian Civil Defense and the Palestinian Red Crescent said Tuesday. Residents reported an escalation of fighting in the southern Gaza city once seen as the territory’s last refuge.
\n Netanyahu has vowed to press ahead, saying Israeli forces must enter Rafah to dismantle Hamas and return hostages taken in the Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war. Israel says it is carrying out limited operations in eastern Rafah along the Gaza-Egypt border. But residents reported heavy bombardment overnight in Tel al-Sultan.
At least seven Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded in new Israeli strikes on an area of tents housing displaced people West of Rafah on Tuesday, Gaza health authorities have said.
","elementId":"c584335d-47ac-44ac-abbf-e22598a126b3"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"Reuters reports the new Israeli strikes targeted tents of displaced families in the designated humanitarian area in Mawasi in western Rafah, according to medics and residents. Other local media has given the number of casualties as at least 20 people killed. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
","elementId":"c42fd0b6-8123-4699-9fcf-1519349040e7"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"The new strike comes just a day after a previous Israeli airstrike caused a huge blaze at a tented area for displaced people in Rafah which medics said killed at least 45 people. Images of charred and dismembered children from that assault prompting an outcry from global leaders. Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said in parliament that “something unfortunately went tragically wrong” with that airstrike.
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rises in Gaza near tents sheltering displaced people.","caption":"Smoke rises in Gaza near tents sheltering displaced people.","credit":"Photograph: Haitham Imad/EPA"}},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"Hani Mahmoud, reporting for Al Jazeera from inside Gaza, has written for the news network that:
","elementId":"8090a496-6eb4-45f5-a526-aaa2ddb6040e"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.BlockquoteBlockElement","html":"\n","elementId":"80ecab08-b58e-4b08-8d81-90dca9921571"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"Israeli tanks are pushing deeper into Rafah right now from two major axes – first, along the Philadelphi Corridor into the city centre, and second, from the eastern part of Rafah city all the way down to an area known as the al-Awda traffic circle.
\nArtillery shelling there has reached as far as the vicinity of the Kuwaiti hospital, which has been pushed out of service all day.
\n
Palestinian news agency Wafa, citing the health ministry, said that all the hospitals in the Rafah region were out of service, with the exception of Tal Al-Sultan maternity hospital which was “struggling”.
","elementId":"20435739-68ec-41f0-b3c7-71d7ae35661f"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"Earlier this month Benjamin Netanyahu’s government shut down Al Jazeera from operating inside Israel, and last week Israel seized Associated Press camera and broadcasting kit after accusing the agency of violating the country’s new media law by providing content to Al Jazeera.
","elementId":"c6cc8add-60f3-422b-bf5f-82ea9a812530"}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1716899706000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"08.35 EDT","blockLastUpdated":1716900638000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"08.50 EDT","blockFirstPublished":1716900638000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"08.50 EDT","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"08.50","title":"Seven killed by new Israeli strikes on displaced Palestinians in tents in Rafah – reports","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Tue 28 May 2024 11.26 EDT","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Tue 28 May 2024 03.21 EDT"},{"id":"6655cc4b8f082cc3ef066caf","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"Ireland, Spain and Norway have all formally recognised a Palestinian state today. The joint decision by two European Union countries plus Norway, a nation with a strong diplomatic tradition in peacemaking, may generate momentum for the recognition of a Palestinian state by other EU countries and could spur further steps at the United Nations, which would deepen Israel’s international isolation.
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Palestinian flag flutters alongside EU and Ukrainian flags outside Leinster House in Dublin on 28 May to mark Ireland's recognition of a Palestinian state.","caption":"A Palestinian flag flutters alongside EU and Ukrainian flags outside Leinster House in Dublin on 28 May to mark Ireland's recognition of a Palestinian state.","credit":"Photograph: Peter Murphy/AFP/Getty Images"}},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"Associated Press notes the UN general assembly voted by a significant margin on 11 May to grant new “rights and privileges” to Palestine in a sign of growing international support for a vote on full voting membership.
","elementId":"53a6a99b-80e2-4c99-86dc-f1d68b1a2b61"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"“This is a historic decision that has a single goal, and that is to help Israelis and Palestinians achieve peace,” Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez said before his Cabinet certified the decision.
","elementId":"fc62196d-41dc-4013-81f1-dbfaddfd1f34"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"Israel’s foreign minister Israel Katz earlier said Sánchez’s government was “being complicit in inciting genocide against Jews and war crimes”. The chief prosecutor of the international criminal court in The Hague is seeking arrest warrants for senior Hamas and Israeli leaders in connection with accusations of war crimes in Gaza and Israel since 7 October.
","elementId":"479ec01a-3281-41b7-93f6-1b473c8a2367"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"“There are practical actions you can take as a country to help keep the hope and destination of a two-state solution alive at a time when others are trying to sadly bomb it into oblivion,” Irish prime minister Simon Harris. At the weekend an Israeli airstrike on displaced Palestinians living in tents in Rafah has caused widespread international indignation. “I again call on prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to listen to the world and stop the humanitarian catastrophe we are seeing in Gaza,” Harris said.
","elementId":"2f54b645-98d0-4d2e-9370-b82ff5117e07"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"The Hamas-led heath authority in Gaza has claimed that over 35,000 Palestinians have been killed during the course of Israel’s relentless bombardment and ground operation on the territory. Harris added that Europe could be doing “a hell of a lot more” with regard to sanctions on Israel.
\n Norwegian foreign minister Espen Barth Eide said that “for more than 30 years, Norway has been one of the strongest advocates for a Palestinian state. Today, when Norway officially recognises Palestine as a state, is a milestone in the relationship between Norway and Palestine.”
Previously seven member of the 27-nation European Union officially recognized a Palestinian state. Five of them are former east bloc countries who announced recognition in 1988, as did Cyprus, before joining the bloc. Sweden’s recognition came in 2014.
","elementId":"fd7df857-92a0-40ac-8d7b-edf41f441dc4"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"Britain has said no recognition of a Palestinian state could come while Hamas remains in Gaza. France has indicated that it isn’t ready to join other countries in recognizing a Palestinian state, even if it isn’t opposed to the idea in principle. German has said it will not recognize a Palestinian state for the time being.
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","elementId":"41b0e47e-08d1-4ff5-83ac-fceccde4519f"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"An investigation by the Guardian and the Israeli-based magazines +972 and Local Call can reveal how Israel has run an almost decade-long secret “war” against the court. The country deployed its intelligence agencies to surveil, hack, pressure, smear and allegedly threaten senior ICC staff in an effort to derail the court’s inquiries.
","elementId":"bac16080-6830-4790-bd1c-577e988fb880"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"Israeli intelligence captured the communications of numerous ICC officials, including chief prosecutor Karim Khan and his predecessor as prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, intercepting phone calls, messages, emails and documents.
","elementId":"c01380b6-1d4c-40ba-8f5d-267f2f8b0607"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"The surveillance was ongoing in recent months, providing Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, with advance knowledge of the prosecutor’s intentions. A recent intercepted communication suggested that Khan wanted to issue arrest warrants against Israelis but was under “tremendous pressure from the United States”, according to a source familiar with its contents.
","elementId":"3721a8a4-3095-4331-8a8e-765c1ee3486e"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"Bensouda, who as chief prosecutor opened the ICC’s investigation in 2021, paving the way for last week’s announcement, was also spied on and allegedly threatened.
","elementId":"b253b3f6-ed60-428b-82e1-0c9f59b0b48b"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"Read more here: Spying, hacking and intimidation: Israel’s nine-year ‘war’ on the ICC exposed
","elementId":"c2de9781-20dc-4e22-98ee-1e93c7abc783"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement","prefix":"Related: ","text":"Spying, hacking and intimidation: Israel’s nine-year ‘war’ on the ICC exposed","elementId":"8cce9f3f-be85-458b-8be5-b827f5e2a3a6","role":"thumbnail","url":"https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/28/spying-hacking-intimidation-israel-war-icc-exposed"}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1716897994000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"08.06 EDT","blockLastUpdated":1716898209000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"08.10 EDT","blockFirstPublished":1716898209000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"08.10 EDT","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"08.10","title":"Investigation reveals how Israeli intelligence agencies tried to derail war crimes prosecution by ICC","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Tue 28 May 2024 11.26 EDT","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Tue 28 May 2024 03.21 EDT"},{"id":"6655b1218f08b9b585c77af7","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"Israeli strikes on Rafah have killed at least 16 Palestinians, first responders said on Tuesday as residents reported an escalation of fighting in the southern Gaza city.
","elementId":"ace6d91a-aa08-45a5-849a-aaea9b191b81"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"Strikes overnight killed a total of 16 people in the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood in northwest Rafah, according to the Palestinian Civil Defense and the Palestinian Red Crescent, AP reports.
","elementId":"5542e9ac-156a-4871-9449-69aeb3441d54"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"“It was a night of horror,” said Abdel-Rahman Abu Ismail, a Palestinian from Gaza City who has been sheltering in Tel al-Sultan since December. He said he heard “constant sounds” of explosions overnight and into Tuesday morning, with fighter jets and drones flying over the area.
\n He said it reminded him of the Israeli invasion of of his neighborhood of Shijaiyah in Gaza City, where Israel launched a heavy bombing campaign before sending in ground forces in late 2023. “We saw this before,” he said.
\n Sayed al-Masri, a Rafah resident, said many families have been forced to flee their homes and shelters, with most heading for the crowded Mawasi area, where giant tent camps have been set up on a barren coastline, or to Khan Younis, a southern city that suffered heavy damage during months of fighting.
\n “The situation is worsening” in Rafah, al-Masri said.
\n The latest strikes occurred in the same area where Israel targeted what it said was a Hamas compound on Sunday night. That strike ignited a fire in a camp for displaced Palestinians and killed at least 45 people, according to local health officials, sparking worldwide outrage.
\n Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there was a “tragic mishap” on Sunday and the military said it was investigating.
\n Israel says it is carrying out limited operations in eastern Rafah along the Gaza-Egypt border. But residents reported heavy bombardment overnight in western parts of Rafah as well.
The former head of the Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, allegedly threatened a chief prosecutor of the international criminal court in a series of secret meetings in which he tried to pressure her into abandoning a war crimes investigation, the Guardian can reveal.
","elementId":"64759a05-f572-4ba7-b23e-3f5807b4ab7d"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"Yossi Cohen’s covert contacts with the ICC’s then prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, took place in the years leading up to her decision to open a formal investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in occupied Palestinian territories.
","elementId":"dffea3e0-4965-4b2d-80bb-c53caaf736ee"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement","prefix":"Related: ","text":"Revealed: Israeli spy chief ‘threatened’ ICC prosecutor over war crimes inquiry","elementId":"20aa4b43-13bd-4605-8cf0-a3226074eddb","role":"thumbnail","url":"https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/28/israeli-spy-chief-icc-prosecutor-war-crimes-inquiry"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"That investigation, launched in 2021, culminated last week when Bensouda’s successor, Karim Khan, announced that he was seeking an arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, over the country’s conduct in its war in Gaza.
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flee the area of Tal al-Sultan in Rafah with their belongings following renewed Israeli strikes in the city in the southern Gaza Strip on May 28, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas militant group continues. ","caption":"Palestinians flee the area of Tal al-Sultan in Rafah with their belongings following renewed Israeli strikes","credit":"Photograph: Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images"}},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"Since early May, Israel’s military has been carrying out what it says is a limited operation in Rafah to kill fighters and dismantle infrastructure used by Hamas.
","elementId":"1a8ec536-1b3c-4178-870a-85844f516717"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"It has told civilians to go to an “expanded humanitarian zone” some 20 km (12 miles) away.
","elementId":"559ba1ab-1e21-4976-8ca0-964eda5737be"}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1716884423000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"04.20 EDT","blockLastUpdated":1716886336000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"04.52 EDT","blockFirstPublished":1716884695000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"04.24 EDT","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"04.24","title":"One million people flee Rafah in three weeks, UNWRA says","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Tue 28 May 2024 11.26 EDT","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Tue 28 May 2024 03.21 EDT"},{"id":"665535378f08f180c2081c9b","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"The Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has said his cabinet will recognize a Palestinian state at its Tuesday morning meeting.
Ireland and Norway were also to make official their recognition of a Palestinian state later in the day. While dozens of countries have recognised a Palestinian state, none of the major western powers has done so.
\n “This is a historic decision that has a single goal, and that is to help Israelis and Palestinians achieve peace,” said Sánchez, standing at the gates of the prime minister’s palace in Madrid, during a televised speech.
\n The Socialist leader, who announced his country’s decision before parliament last week, has spent months touring European and Middle Eastern countries to garner support for recognition and a cease-fire in Gaza.
\n Relations between the EU and Israel nosedived Monday, the eve of the diplomatic recognition EU members Ireland and Spain, with Madrid insisting that the EU should take action against Israel for its continued deadly attacks in southern Gaza’s city of Rafah. Norway, which is not an EU member but often aligns its foreign policy with the bloc, handed diplomatic papers to the Palestinian government over the weekend ahead of its formal recognition of a Palestinian state.
Meanwhile Canada is the latest country to react to the airstrikes on Rafah, saying it is horrified by the civilian deaths.
","elementId":"694f3de4-cee2-4d14-80dc-57b5aeab5a67"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"At least 45 people were been killed after the Israeli strike caused a huge blaze at a tented area for displaced people in Rafah, according to medics.
","elementId":"285d1682-7bc7-42b6-846e-5d025075697f"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said in a statement:
","elementId":"dce0fb87-b37a-4aef-98a0-35ddbc8213a4"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.BlockquoteBlockElement","html":"\n","elementId":"cde996ad-f003-4b76-b9c2-62ef8c4cc949"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"We are horrified by strikes that killed Palestinian civilians in Rafah.
\n
Joly added that Canada does not support the Israeli military operation in Rafah:
","elementId":"515634ae-0baf-4612-bcae-050edc1c0266"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.BlockquoteBlockElement","html":"\n","elementId":"13fa91c4-4f39-421b-9023-269f21096877"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"\n
\n This level of human suffering must come to an end. We demand an immediate ceasefire.
They are comments that have been echoed by other global leaders who have urged the implementation of an international court of justice order to halt Israel’s assault.
","elementId":"45413dbe-dc15-47c3-a877-19064e760125"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"The United States said on Monday that Israel must make every possible effort to avoid civilian casualties after the deadly strike in Rafah.
","elementId":"d77d339b-3dca-4c8f-aed2-c79f26282c0b"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"A US national security council spokesperson said in a statement:
","elementId":"1ac53792-7a68-4e7c-a55c-de220c710491"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.BlockquoteBlockElement","html":"\n","elementId":"0130482e-ff8d-46d8-b9aa-66a62b54f0c7"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"As we’ve been clear, Israel must take every precaution possible to protect civilians …
\nWe are actively engaging the IDF and partners on the ground to assess what happened.
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But the NSC spokesperson also said that “Israel has a right to go after Hamas, and we understand this strike killed two senior Hamas terrorists who are responsible for attacks against Israeli civilians,” before imploring more caution.
","elementId":"879a5d47-5538-4f1e-b766-79e500d0c34f"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"The Israeli military said it had launched a probe into the strike which it said was carried out based on “precise intelligence information”.
","elementId":"654d6744-068c-4ceb-ab75-238df1e289a3"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"It launched the attack on Rafah hours after Hamas unleashed a barrage of rockets towards the Tel Aviv area, most of which were intercepted.
","elementId":"b60400dd-a83d-4710-9fce-98ae3f38680c"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"In other developments:
","elementId":"ac41c875-62b4-4a05-944f-927b3232ecc9"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"- \n
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue fighting in Gaza despite widespread anger over Sunday’s strike in Rafah. At least 45 people were killed after an Israeli airstrike that caused a huge blaze at a tented area for displaced people in Rafah, medics have said. Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said about half of the dead were women, children and older adults. The Israeli strike, one of the deadliest single incidents in the eight-month war to date, came two days after the international court of justice’s ruling ordering Israel to stop its operation in Rafah immediately.
\n Netanyahu described the airstrike as a “tragic mishap” and said the incident occurred “despite our best efforts not to hurt them”. Israel’s top military prosecutor described the airstrike as “very grave” and said an investigation was under way. The Israeli military said its air force struck a Hamas compound and that the attack was carried out with “precise ammunition and on the basis of precise intelligence”. Hundreds of people gathered in Israeli cities on Monday after the Rafah attack to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
\n Images of charred and dismembered children in Rafah after the Israeli strike have caused an outcry from global leaders and put ceasefire talks in jeopardy. Qatar, a key mediator between Israel and Hamas in attempts to secure a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages, said the Rafah casualties would complicate the protracted negotiations. Israeli media reported that Hamas had decided to pull out of the latest proposed talks over what its senior leadership described as a massacre.
\n The UN security council is set to convene an emergency meeting Tuesday over the Rafah strike. Diplomats said the council would convene for an emergency session called by Algeria to discuss the attack.
\n Spain, Ireland and Norway will formally recognize a Palestinian state Tuesday. Israel has described the decision as a “reward” for Hamas more than seven months into the devastating Gaza war. The three European countries believe their initiative has strong symbolic impact, which could encourage others to follow suit, reports AFP.
\n The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said he is “outraged” by the Israeli airstrike on Rafah. “These operations must stop. There are no safe areas in Rafah for Palestinian citizens. I call for full respect for international law and an immediate ceasefire,” he posted to X on Monday. Italy’s defence minister, Guido Crosetto, said Israeli attacks on Palestinian civilians in Gaza were no longer justifiable in one of the strongest criticisms Rome has made so far against Israel’s war.
\n Desperately needed aid deliveries to Gaza have ground to a halt, as the Rafah border crossing, and the nearby Kerem Shalom crossing are in effect blocked by the fierce fighting. About 200 aid trucks were supposed to enter Gaza through Israel’s Kerem Shalom crossing on Sunday after an agreement was reached with Egypt, but UN and Palestinian officials said on Monday that no aid supplies have been distributed.
\n An Israeli strike targeting a motorcycle in southern Lebanon hit next to a hospital entrance Monday, killing the motorcycle driver and a hospital security guard and wounding several civilians nearby, local health officials said. It was not immediately clear who the driver was or why he was targeted in the strike in the town of Bint Jbeil, reports Associated Press. The Israeli army did not give a statement on the strike but said it had targeted other areas of southern Lebanon in response to “terrorist launches.”
\n Egypt’s military says a border guard was killed in a shooting in the Rafah border area with Gaza on Monday, where Israeli forces are deployed, adding that a probe had been launched. “The Egyptian armed forces, through the competent authorities, are investigating a shooting incident in the Rafah border area which led to the martyrdom of a guard,” a military statement said. The Israeli military reported a “shooting incident” on the Egyptian border and said it was discussing the incident with Egypt, reports Agence France-Presse.
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Key events