Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib calls Rafah bombing ‘intentional’ while Israel calls it a ‘mistake’

Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib condemned the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu after having stated that Israel’s bombing of Rafah was a “mistake”.

An Israeli air strike in tents in Rafah intended for displaced Palestinians, killed at least 50 people and injured dozens more on Sundayaccording to Gaza health authorities.

Prime Minister Netanyahu later called the attack “a tragic mistake” and said it would be investigated.

But Representative Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American member of Congress, reacted to the Israeli leader’s explanation.

“This was intentional,” she wrote on

Tlaib also criticized President Joe Biden in her post. “The genocidal maniac Netanyahu told us that he wants to ethically cleanse the Palestinians,” she said. “When will you believe him @POTUS?”

Tlaib has been heavily criticized in Congress since the start of the Israel-Hamas war last October, when the militant group killed more than 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages. An estimated 35,000 people have died in Gaza since Israel’s invasion.

Last year 22 Democrats joined Republicans in censuring her for her comments about the warspecifically her invocation of the term “from the River to the Sea,” which she claimed was a declaration of liberation for the Palestinians, but which many consider a call for the destruction of Israel.

Tlaib also sharply criticized Biden’s support for Israel during the war and supported efforts in the Michigan Democratic primary to vote “disengaged.”

Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, a member of the progressive circle of Democrats known as “the Squad,” also condemned the bombing of Rafah on Monday.

“Horrible and painful images coming from Rafah last night,” she posted on X. How much longer will the US stand by while the Israeli military massacres and mutilates Palestinian babies? Where is our humanity?”

More than half of Gaza’s 1.5 million residents have sought refuge in the southern city of Rafah, and the Biden administration has repeatedly called the invasion of Rafah a red line for this reason.

Biden said in April that the US would not supply weapons to Israel for an attack on Rafah and confirmed that there was withholding shipment of 2,000-pound American bombs destined for Israel.

Homeland Security spokesman John Kirby said Axes on Monday that emerging images of the Rafah attack were “heartbreaking.”

“The devastating images following the IDF attack in Rafah last night, which killed dozens of innocent Palestinians, are heartbreaking,” he said.

“Israel has the right to persecute Hamas… but as has been made clear, Israel must take all possible precautions to protect civilians. We are actively engaging the IDF and partners on the ground to assess what happened.”