Israeli bombing and air attacks killed 37 people, mostly in tents, outside the southern Gaza city. This happened in the same area where earlier strikes caused a deadly fire in a camp for displaced Palestinians. Witnesses, emergency workers, and hospital officials confirmed this.
The fire in the tent camp has made many people around the world very angry. Even Israel’s friends are upset about the military’s attacks in Rafah. Israel is becoming more and more isolated in the world. On Tuesday, Spain, Norway, and Ireland officially acknowledged that there is a Palestinian state.
The Israeli military said that the fire on Sunday at the tent camp might have been caused by more explosions, maybe from weapons belonging to Palestinian militants. Israel released its findings about the fire on Tuesday. Daniel Hagari said the fire is still being looked into, but the weapons used by Israel were too small to cause the fire.
The strike or the fire could have also started the fuel, cooking gas canisters, or other things in the camp. The fire killed 45 people from Gaza, as reported by their health officials. Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu said the fire was a very sad accident.
Israel attacked Rafah on May 6, causing over one million people to leave the city, according to the UN agency that helps Palestinian refugees. Many people had to move many times during the almost eight-month war between Israel and Hamas. The families are living in temporary tent camps and other areas that have been destroyed by war.
In the last few days, bombings have hit areas in the west of Rafah, where the military did not tell people to leave. Israeli soldiers and tanks are moving in the eastern part of Rafah city, in the middle of the city, and along the border between Gaza and Egypt.
On Monday night and Tuesday morning, bombs hit the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood in Rafah, and at least 16 people were killed, according to the Palestinian Civil Defence and the Palestinian Red Crescent. Seven people died in tents next to a UN building about 200 meters from where the fire happened on Sunday.
“Muslim Abdel-Rahman Abu Ismail, a person from Gaza City, said it was a very scary night. He has been living in Tel al-Sultan since December. ” He said he heard lots of explosions all night and on Tuesday, and saw fighter jets and drones flying above.
He said it made him think of when Israel attacked his neighborhood of Shijaiyah in Gaza City. They bombed it a lot and then sent in soldiers in late 2023. “We have seen this before,” he said.
The US and other friends of Israel have said not to launch a big attack in the city. The Biden administration has said this would be very bad and they won’t give weapons for that kind of action. On Tuesday, a spokesperson from the US State Department, Matthew Miller, said that the administration does not think Israel has gone too far in attacking Rafah. He said the attack is not as bad as the ones on other parts of Gaza.
The International Court of Justice told Israel to stop its military operation in Rafah. This is because South Africa accuses Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza.
On Tuesday afternoon, a drone from Israel attacked tents near a hospital by the coast, west of Rafah. At least 21 people were killed, including 13 women, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Ahmed Nassar, a person who saw what happened, said that his four relatives and some of their family members were killed in the attack. Some tents were also damaged or destroyed. Many of the people who lived there had run away from the same area in Gaza City during the war.
“He said they don’t have anything to do with anything. ”
Netanyahu promised to continue fighting in Rafah. He said that Israeli troops need to go into the city to break up Hamas and rescue the hostages from the attack on Oct 7 that started the war.
The Israeli military looked into the strike and fire that happened on Sunday and shared pictures taken from space that show where they believe Hamas shot rockets from. They said it was only about 40 meters away from some sheds that were hit. In the picture, it didn’t look like the launcher was hit.
He said Israeli planes used really small bombs – two bombs with 17-kilogram warheads. “We don’t have enough weapons to start a fire this big,” he said.
Hagari said that the fire was a very bad thing that we didn’t think would happen, and it started because of unexpected things.
However, the bombings have caused many people to leave areas to the west of Rafah. Sayed al-Masri, who lives in Rafah, said lots of families were going to the busy Muwasi area or to Khan Younis, a city in the south that was badly damaged during months of fighting.
“Things are getting worse,” al-Masri said about the situation in Rafah.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said two hospitals in Tel al-Sultan cannot operate because of heavy bombing nearby. Medical Aid for Palestinians, a charity that helps people in the area, said that the Tel al-Sultan medical center and the Indonesian Field Hospital are unable to operate. Medics, patients, and displaced people are stuck inside.
Many of Gaza’s hospitals are no longer working. Rafah’s Kuwait Hospital closed on Monday because two health workers were killed in a strike near the hospital entrance.
A person from the World Health Organization said that there were too many people hurt in the strike and fire on Sunday. The hospitals there didn’t have enough supplies to help the people with bad burns.
Dr Margaret Harris said that it needs a lot of attention, electricity, and advanced medical care.
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At least 37 Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks
