Israel: Netanyahu says Israeli attack on Rafah refugee camp that killed dozens was a ‘tragic accident’

At least 45 people, including women and children, were killed and dozens injured following an Israeli attack on a refugee camp near Rafah in Gaza, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry.

Video taken at the site in the southern Gaza Strip showed a huge explosion and huge fire. Palestinian officials believe the figure could be even higher.

The Israeli military said it carried out a targeted air strike on a Hamas compound in the area, killing two of its leaders, and said it was “investigating the circumstances of the deaths of civilians in the area.”

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described what happened as “Tragic accident” and stressed that investigations are ongoing to find out what happened.

The Red Crescent said its ambulances transported “a large number” of the injured The Tal as-Sultan clinic and field hospital in Rafah, where there is hardly an operational medical centre left, and “innumerable” civilians were trapped in the flames left by the attack on an area full of tents where people displaced by the war take refuge, about two kilometres northwest of the city of Rafah.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the attack took place in an area designated as a humanitarian area and far from where recent military operations have taken place.

But the Israeli military said it had used precision weapons against “legitimate targets.”

Video footage showed fire at temporary facilities next to a sign reading “Kuwaiti Peace Camp 1” and emergency workers and civilians carrying away bodies.

Abed Mohammed Al Attar said Reuters That his brother and sister-in-law died in the bombing.

He denounced, “The Israeli army lies. There is no security in Gaza, not even for a child, an elderly person or a woman.”

“We were sitting quietly outside our house. Suddenly, we heard the sound of a missile,” said Fadi Dukhan, an eyewitness to the attack.

“We ran and found the street covered in smoke,” Dookhan said, adding that he and others saw a girl and a young man who had been killed in the attack.

Qatar, which plays an important mediating role between Israel and Hamas, has warned of attack Negotiation efforts may be hindered Reaching a ceasefire and hostage exchange agreement in Gaza.

Egyptian authorities said they were investigating a separate incident in which one of their security forces was killed in a shootout with Israeli troops along the border with Gaza.

The Israeli military said it was in contact with authorities in Egypt regarding a shooting incident.

Israeli military identifies dead Hamas leaders Such as Yassin Rabia, who is responsible for militant groups in the occupied West Bank, and Khaled Nagar, who is accused of organising and carrying out deadly attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians.

“Prior to the attack, a number of measures were taken, including aerial surveillance, deployment of precision weapons by the Air Force, and additional intelligence gathering, to minimize the risk of harm to civilians not involved,” Israeli military officials said in a statement.

“Based on these measures, it was assessed that there would be no unexpected harm to uninvolved civilians,” the statement added.

“The Air Force regrets any harm caused to civilians not involved in the fighting.”

Israeli government spokesman Avi Hyman told the BBC that “initial reports indicate that a fire was somehow started, which sadly also took the lives of other people.”

The NGO Doctors Without Borders reported that 15 bodies and dozens of wounded arrived at one of its locations in Rafah during the night.

A spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees said they were having great difficulty communicating with their teams on the ground in Rafah.

“What we know is that there has been a serious incident near one of our biggest buildings, northwest of Rafah. We are talking about dozens of people killed and many others injured,” he told the BBC.

Hours before the Israeli attack on the refugee camp, Hamas fired eight rockets from Rafah towards Tel AvivThe attack is the first of its kind in Israel’s largest city since January.

Residents of Tel Aviv had to hide when bombing sirens sounded in the city center.

Eight rockets were intercepted by air defence systems Or fell into the ground, according to Israeli officials.

Though no injuries were reported, the attack was a reminder of the threat Hamas poses to Israeli civilians.

Hamas said the attack on Tel Aviv was a response to Israel’s “massacre of Palestinian civilians”.

The Israeli military offensive in Rafah continues after the US called on the Israeli government to refrain from punishing civilians who have taken refuge in the area in the south, despite the International Court of Justice’s ruling on Friday that it must now stop bombing Gaza and the rest of the Strip.

According to the United Nations, about 1.5 million people have taken refuge there after fleeing fighting elsewhere in Gaza.

Israeli forces are advancing toward the southern edge of Gaza in a bid to dislodge Hamas from what it calls its “last great stronghold.” They claim that some of the Israeli hostages taken by Hamas in the October 7 attack are there.

The new day of violence comes ahead of new ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas, which are expected to resume this week.

Israel’s military operation in Gaza began after Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israel on 7 October. About 1,200 people were killed and 252 were taken hostage,

About 36,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war Since then, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Several Arab countries have condemned the deadly attack and many others have called for immediate international intervention Stop Israeli attacks on Gaza.

French President Emmanuel Macron declared himself “enraged” about what happened and reiterated his call for a ceasefire in Gaza. “These operations must stop.”

In a statement published in

Too Egypt urged Israel to “fulfill its legal obligations as an occupying power and implement the recent ruling of the International Court of Justice to halt its military operation in Rafah.

“This tragic attack is a continuation and a systematic policy of harming unarmed civilians Increase the scope of genocide and destruction in the Gaza Strip, making it uninhabitable” Egyptian officials said.

In a statement carried by state news agency Petra, a Jordanian Foreign Ministry spokesman said He called the Israeli actions a “war crime”. Which the international community will have to face.

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