Dozens killed as Israeli strikes near Gaza’s Rafah hit tents for displaced people
- Israel says incident ‘under review’ as Gaza officials say strike hits a tent city in Rafah
- The strike came two days after a ruling by the top UN court ordering a halt to attacks
Israeli air strikes killed at least 45 Palestinians and wounded dozens in an area in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah designated for the displaced, Palestinian health and civil emergency service officials said.
The Israeli military said its air force struck a Hamas compound in Rafah and that the strike was carried out with “precise ammunition and on the basis of precise intelligence”. It took out Hamas’ chief of staff for the West Bank and another senior official behind deadly attacks on Israelis, it said.
“The IDF is aware of reports indicating that as a result of the strike and fire that was ignited, several civilians in the area were harmed. The incident is under review.”
The spokesman for the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza, Ashraf Al-Qidra, said 45 people were killed and dozens of others, most of them women and children, were wounded in the attack.
The strike took place in Tel Al-Sultan neighbourhood in western Rafah, where thousands of people were taking shelter after many fled the eastern areas of the city, where Israeli forces began a ground offensive over two weeks ago.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said its field hospital in Rafah was receiving an influx of casualties, and that other hospitals also were taking in many patients.