Israeli strikes on a tent camp in an evacuation area west of Rafah have killed at least 21 people, Gaza health authorities said, as tanks advanced to the centre of the southern city for the first time after a night of heavy bombardment.Gaza emergency services said four tank shells hit a cluster of tents in Al-Mawasi, a coastal area that Israel had advised civilians in Rafah to move to for safety.
International unease over Israel's three-week-old Rafah offensive has turned to outrage after an attack on Sunday set off a blaze in a tent camp in a western district of the city, killing at least 45 people.Global leaders condemned the fire in a designated"humanitarian zone" of Rafah where families uprooted by fighting elsewhere had sought shelter, and urged the implementation of a World Court order last week for a halt to Israel's assault.
Today's attack occurred in an area designated by Israel as an expanded humanitarian zone, to which it had called on civilians in Rafah to evacuate for their own safety when it launched its incursion in early May. "Tank shells are falling everywhere in Tel Al-Sultan. Many families have fled their houses in western Rafah under fire throughout the night," one resident told Reuters via a chat app.
"There are a lot of attacks, smoke and dust. It is death from God ...The are hitting everywhere. We're tired," Moayad Fusaifas said, pushing along belongings on two bicycles. Israel has kept up attacks despite the ruling by the International Court of Justice on Friday ordering it to stop given a high risk of civilian casualties.The ICJ also reiterated calls for the immediate and unconditional release of hostages held in Gaza by Hamas.Israel launched its air and ground war after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israeli communities on 7 October, killing around 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Prominent democrat in the House of Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called yesterday's strike on Rafah"an indefensible atrocity", adding in a social media post that"it is long past time for the president to live up to his word and suspend military aid." "In Rafah, we already evacuated about one million non-combatant residents and despite our utmost effort not to harm non-combatants, something unfortunately went tragically wrong," he said in a speech in parliament that was interrupted by shouting from opposition politicians.
Health Health Latest News, Health Health Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Israeli airstrikes kill at least 35 in RafahThe health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said that at least 35 people were killed, and dozens wounded in Israeli strikes on a centre for displaced people near the Palestinian territory's far-southern city of Rafah.
Source: rtenews - 🏆 1. / 99 Read more »