Israeli tanks strikes tent city in Rafah, 21 killed
JERUSALEM: Israeli military tanks shelled a tent camp west of Rafah on Tuesday after killing at least 21 people there, Gaza health authorities said, in an area Israel has designated a civilian evacuation zone.
Earlier, defying an appeal from the International Court of Justice, Israeli tanks advanced to the heart of Rafah for the first time after a night of heavy bombardment. The United States, Israel’s closest ally, reiterated its opposition to a major Israeli ground offensive in Rafah but said it did not believe such an operation was under way.
Describing the US view of what would constitute a major offensive in Rafah, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that it would involve “large numbers of troops in columns and formations in some sort of coordinated maneuver against multiple targets on the ground.”
Two days after an Israeli airstrike on another camp stirred global condemnation, Gaza emergency services said four tank shells on Tuesday hit a cluster of tents in Al-Mawasi, a coastal strip Israel designated as an expanded humanitarian zone where it advised civilians in Rafah to go for safety. At least 12 of the dead on Tuesday were women, according to medical officials.
Israel told around one million Palestinian civilians displaced by the almost eight-month-old war to evacuate to Al-Mawasi when it launched its incursion in Rafah in early May. Around that many have fled Rafah since then, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA reported.
In central Rafah, tanks and armoured vehicles mounted with machine guns were spotted near Al-Awda mosque, a city landmark, witnesses told Reuters on Tuesday. The Israeli military said its forces continued to operate in the Rafah area, without commenting on reported advances into the city centre.
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.
Israel said it had targeted two senior Hamas operatives and had not intended to cause civilian casualties. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the harm to civilians occurred when “something unfortunately went tragically wrong.”
Global leaders voiced horror at the fire in a designated humanitarian zone of Rafah where families uprooted by fighting elsewhere had sought shelter, and they urged the implementation of a World Court order last week for a halt to Israel’s assault.
After a meeting of the UN Security Council closed doors on Tuesday over the latest developments in Rafah, Algeria’s UN Ambassador Amar Bendjama said the country would propose a draft council resolution to “stop the killing in Rafah.”
The Biden administration said it was closely monitoring the probe into Sunday’s air strike. Kirby said there was nothing in the incidents that would prompt the United States to halt its military aid to Israel.
Saudi Arabia – which had been in talks to normalize relations with Israel before the war in Gaza erupted – accused Israel of committing “genocide massacres” by targeting Palestinian tents in Rafah, saying it held Israel accountable for its actions.
Egypt is again trying in tandem with Qatar and the US to revive talks on a ceasefire and the release of hostages held by Hamas, but efforts have been hampered by Israel’s assault on Rafah. Hamas has said talks are pointless unless Israel ends its offensive in Rafah.