Attack on displaced camp in Gaza kills at least 22 – DW – 06/22/2024

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that this Friday (06/21/2024) 22 people were killed in a bombing in Gaza that damaged its office, in an area where hundreds of displaced people are living in tents.

“On Friday afternoon, heavy-caliber projectiles struck the office of the International Committee of the Red Cross and houses in its vicinity,” the ICRC announced on the social network X.

“The incident caused a massive influx of victims at a nearby Red Cross field hospital,” the organization said.

The CIRC reported that 22 bodies and 45 injured were taken to a nearby field hospital following the bombing and that there were “reports of additional casualties”.

The German Press Agency (dpa), citing the Gaza health ministry, put the death toll at 24.

The ICRC did not say who fired the “heavy-caliber projectiles” but said in a statement they “damaged the structure of the ICRC office.”

The health ministry in the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory said 25 people were killed and 50 wounded in the attack, which it blamed on Israel.

The ministry said Israeli shelling “targeted tents of displaced people in the al-Mawasi area,” which surrounds the ICRC base.

Israel has denied the attack

An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman said that “initial investigations show there are no indications that the IDF struck the al-Mawasi humanitarian area.”

“The incident is being reviewed,” the spokesman told French news agency AFP.

The ICRC said: “On Friday afternoon large-calibre projectiles fell a few metres from the offices and residences of the International Committee of the Red Cross.”

“Firing dangerously so close to humanitarian structures, whose location is known to the parties to the conflict and which are clearly marked with the Red Cross emblem, puts the lives of civilians and Red Cross personnel at risk,” the organisation said.

Desperate calls from CIRC

“This serious security incident is one of several that have occurred in recent days,” he said. “In the past, stray bullets have targeted ICRC structures. We condemn these incidents which have endangered the lives of humanitarian workers and civilians.”

The ICRC urged Israel and Hamas to respect international law and protect civilians caught in the conflict that erupted following an October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, considered a terrorist group by the European Union.

Calling on both sides to do more to protect civilians “no matter which side they are on,” ICRC chief Mirjana Spoljaric said it represented “the fine line between humanity and barbarism.”

Jesse (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)