At least 35 people died in theIsraeli attack yesterday against a camp for displaced people in Rafah. This is what the Gaza Ministry of Health and Palestinian doctors say. 40 people died in the raid according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, which cites the Palestinian Red Crescent. The attack occurred after Hamas launched a barrage of rockets into Tel Aviv.
Gaza authorities and medics say the attack hit a camp for displaced people that had been designated by Israel as a “safe zone.” The Israel Defense Forces said the bombing hit a militant compound in the area, killing two senior Hamas officials.
As CNN reports, videos shared on social media show a large fire at the site, which included a large container used as a shelter for dozens of families surrounded by hundreds of tents.
Gaza’s version, what the IDF says
Gaza’s health ministry said those killed and wounded in the attack were mostly women and children. A video obtained by CNN shows tent-like structures on fire. The presidency of the Palestinian Authority therefore urged the international community to intervene immediately. Hamas described the attack as a “massacre” and said it held the US administration and President Joe Biden personally responsible.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said many of the people inside the tents had been “burned alive” and added that hospitals in the area “are not able to handle the large number of casualties resulting from the deliberate destruction of Gaza’s health system by part of the Israeli occupation.” Local sources also told the Wafa agency that at least eight missiles hit the tent city, recently set up near an UNRWA warehouse
The Israeli military said two senior Hamas officials were killed in the Rafah attack, which it said was “based on precise intelligence information.” Specifically, the Israeli army said it killed Yassin Rabia, commander of the Hamas leadership in Judea and Samaria, and Khaled Nagar, a senior official of the Hamas wing for the same regions. The IDF also said that the attacks, including damage to civilians, were now being reviewed.
The Israeli military explained that Rabia and Nagar had “planned Hamas terrorist attacks throughout Judea and Samaria” and added that both had “also carried out numerous attacks, in which Israeli soldiers were killed”.
The rockets on Tel Aviv, the attack on Rafah
The Rafah attack came after sirens sounded across Tel Aviv and other parts of central Israel on Sunday, with the IDF saying eight rockets were fired from the Rafah area, entering Israel. It is the first time rockets have been fired at the city since the end of January. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack and the IDF said “a number of projectiles” were intercepted.
The attack on Jabalia
Yesterday an Israeli air strike in the town of Jabalia, in northern Gaza, killed at least four people, according to medics on the scene. Four others were injured and many are still missing after the raid hit a residential building in the Al-Nazla neighborhood. A journalist said Jabalia witnessed an intense night of airstrikes and shelling and that many fires were burning throughout the area during the day.
360 aid trucks in Gaza
Israeli military officials meanwhile said 360 trucks of humanitarian aid entered Gaza on Sunday after security checks. 126 trucks from Egypt entered the Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing. Aid workers and United Nations officials have repeatedly warned that the dire humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza is largely due to Israel’s strict restriction of land deliveries to the enclave.
Hostages and truce, talks at a standstill
Negotiations between Israel and Hamas on a ceasefire and a hostage exchange deal will resume in Cairo on Tuesday, according to an Egyptian official. Talks have been stalled for months, with both sides unable to reach an agreement amid differences over key demands. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed strong opposition to the demands made by Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
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