Nearly three dozen people were killed on Sunday night in Rafah, south of Gaza, in an Israeli air strike which hit an area where internally displaced civilians were said to be sheltering in tents, Palestinian health officials said.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said at least 35 people died, most of them women and children, in the attack on the Tal al-Sultan neighborhood. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society warned that the number of casualties could rise as many people were trapped in the flames that broke out after the bombing.
“It is important to note that this location was designated by the Israeli occupation as a humanitarian area, and citizens were coerced to evacuate there,” the humanitarian and medical aid group said.
Doctors Without Borders, known as Doctors Without Borders in English, said at least 15 dead and dozens of injured were taken to a trauma stabilization point it supports.
“We are horrified by this deadly event, which shows once again that nowhere is safe,” the organization said. “We continue to call for an immediate and sustained ceasefire in Gaza.”
Video shared on social media and verified by NBC News showed an area of tents engulfed in flames as screaming Palestinians fled for safety and civil defense teams worked to extinguish the blaze.
A video showed an apparently unconscious man being dragged by his feet out of a walled area. Two men who pulled him returned to the flames, apparently to find more people.
Other videos showed disturbing images, including badly burned corpses and a man holding what appeared to be the headless body of a small child.
The Israel Defense Forces said the attack targeted two Hamas leaders believed to be responsible for organizing terrorist attacks in the occupied West Bank. It said it was aware of reports that civilian tents were set on fire during the attack and that the incident was “under review”.
“The attack was carried out against legitimate targets under international law,” the IDF said in a statement, adding that it used “precision munitions” based on “accurate intelligence indicating Hamas’ use of the area.”
In a statement, Hamas described the attack as a horrific “massacre.” It did not confirm the death of the commander or senior leader.
Earlier Sunday, Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, announced a missile barrage in response to what it called “Zionist massacres against civilians.” The IDF said that eight projectiles were identified crossing the Rafah area into Israeli territory and that the IDF Air Defense System intercepted several projectiles.
An NBC News journalist witnessed one such intercept after sirens alerted people to incoming fire. sounded in Israel for the first time in several weeks. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage in the area.
The International Court of Justice, a body of the United Nations, ordered Israel to stop its military attack on Rafah on Friday, citing the “immediate risk” to Palestinians in the border city. In his ruling, Judge Nawaf Salam, president of the ICJ, said Israel had failed to sufficiently address and dispel the concerns raised by its offensive.
Before Israel stepped up operations in Rafah this month, more than 1 million civilians were believed to be sheltering in the city after it was designated a safe zone at the start of the war. The ICJ ruling said at least 800,000 people had been forced to flee the area this month, but many more remained.
An Israeli official told NBC News on Friday that the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was meeting with legal advisors to review the decision. The decision, which The ICJ has no power to enforceis unlikely to halt Israel’s actions, with Netanyahu’s government previously condemning case brought by South Africa.
Netanyahu has faced increasing international and national scrutiny over how Israel is conducting the war, launched after the Hamas-led attack on October 7. Authorities estimated that 1,200 people were killed; around 250 other people were taken hostage and around half of them are thought to still be held captive in Gaza. About a quarter of the remaining hostages are believed to be dead.
More than 35,000 people have been killed in Gaza in the last seven months of war, according to local health authorities. Aid groups have warned of catastrophic conditions for civilians who lack access to food and clean water, causing the rampant spread of disease and hunger in some areas of the enclave.
Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders have vowed to continue the war until Hamas is eliminated and all hostages are brought home. A group of family members urged the government to agree to a hostage release agreement with Hamas.
This article was originally published in NBCNews. with
