DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli forces shelled tent camps for displaced Palestinians north of Rafah on Friday, killing at least 25 people and wounding 50 others, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and emergency teams, in the latest deadly attack on the small Palestinian territory where hundreds of thousands of people have fled fighting between Israel and Hamas.
According to Ahmed Radwan, spokesman for Civil Defense rescuers in Rafah, witnesses told rescuers about shelling at two locations in a coastal area that was littered with tents. The Ministry of Health reported the number of people killed and injured in the attacks.
The attack locations provided by Civil Defense were located outside a safe zone designated by Israel. The Israeli military said it was investigating attacks at the reported coordinates. Israel has already bombed sites near the “humanitarian zone” in Muwasi, a rural area on the Mediterranean coast that has filled with sprawling tent camps in recent months.
The attacks occurred as Israel advanced its military forces operation in Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians have sought refuge from fighting in other parts of Gaza. Most have already fled Rafah, but the United Nations says nowhere in Gaza is safe and that humanitarian conditions are dire as families shelter in tents and cramped apartments without adequate food, water or medicine.
Friday’s attacks occurred less than a month after an Israeli bombing raid was carried out a deadly fire which destroyed a camp for displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza, provoking widespread international outrage – including from some of Israel’s closest allies – over the expansion of the military offensive in Rafah.
Israel says it targets Hamas fighters and infrastructure and tries to minimize civilian deaths. He attributes the large number of civilian casualties to militants and says it is because they operate among the population.
With Israel’s war against Hamas Now in its ninth month, international criticism of Israel’s campaign to systematic destruction in Gaza, at a huge cost in civilian lives. The United Nations’ top court concluded that there is a “plausible risk of genocide ”in Gaza – an accusation Israel vehemently denies.
Israeli ground offensives and bombings have killed more than 37,100 people in Gaza, according to the territory’s report. Ministry of healthwhich does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.
Israel launched the war after Hamas attack on October 7in which militants invaded southern Israel, killed around 1,200 people – mostly civilians – and kidnapped around 250.
