Rafah, a small city in the southern Gaza Strip that has become a refuge for 1.4 million Palestinians since the start of the war, suffered this Sunday the deadliest bombing since Israel launched its operation in that area of the Palestinian enclave last May 6.
Is about an Israeli attack that defies the ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ordered the Hebrew country to stop the offensive in that town in the south of Palestineand which once again puts Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government on the ropes before the international community.
(Read also: LIVE | Israel and Palestine conflict: Israel says that the majority of deaths from the attack in Rafah were due to a fire)
Images released by Palestinian sources show that The Israeli aerial bombardment caused a fire that affected several improvised tents, As a result, several victims died of asphyxiation from smoke or burnt to death.
“We had just finished the night prayer. Our children were sleeping, suddenly we heard a loud noise and saw fire everywhere. The children were screaming, the noise was terrifying,” he told the AFP a survivor in the area.
The Israeli version indicates that the attack It targeted improvised infrastructure, located about 300 meters from the Tal al Sultan camp, where two senior Hamas officials were hiding.
🚨🇵🇸🇮🇱 FLASH
⚠️ SENSITIVE IMAGES ⚠️
The images in the light of the day après the Israeli bombardment on a camp of réfugiés à Rafah, designed by Israel as a “humanitarian zone”, montrent des tentes brûlées et une maman “réconfortant” des infants morts. Au moins 40 morts,… pic.twitter.com/ryWoiDPPbt
— Cerfia (@CerfiaFR) May 27, 2024
They talk about Yassin Rabia, commander of the Islamist group’s division for the West Bank, and Khaled Nagar, another senior commander of the same division, whom Israel points out as responsible for “planning, financing and executing Hamas terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and within Israel.”
Israel challenges ICJ ruling
But the bombing of the Rafah refugee camp takes place, above all, just two days after The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the highest court of the UN, ordered Israel to end the Army’s military offensive in Rafah in the face of the risk of genocide against the Palestinian people.
Despite warnings from the international community, Israel ordered the evacuation of thousands of Palestinians from Rafah on May 6 and extended its ground operations towards that southern area in order to destroy what it considers to be the last strongholds of Hamas in the enclave.
According to the report from Doctors Without Borders (MSF), More than 800,000 people have left Rafah in just over 20 days and moved to Al-Mawasi, a coastal area of the enclave where there is no drinking water or basic sanitation.
(You can read: ‘A tragic mishap’: the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, on the bombing of a camp for displaced people in Rafah)
At the same time, he demanded that Israel keep the Rafah crossing open, where most of the humanitarian aid for the Palestinians enters, and guarantee access for a commission “to investigate allegations of genocide.”
Israel is determined to continue its military actions and activities ignoring international opinion
For the academic, the Jewish State had already given signs of this when some Israeli officials indicated over the weekend that The wording of the ICJ ruling “did not rule out all military action” in Rafah.
“What they are asking us is not to commit genocide in Rafah. We did not commit genocide and we will not commit it,” he told the Israeli channel. N12 Tzachi Hanegbi, Israel’s National Security Advisor, who added that the ICJ did not prevent Israel from continuing to defend itself.
In that sense, Thoene told this newspaper that “Israel is determined to continue its military actions and activities ignoring international opinion. Until now Israel has taken this position and its latest decisions and actions suggest that Israeli military pressure will continue.” .
”Israel’s military objectives remain unchanged. It wants to secure the entire border with Egypt, destroy the smuggling tunnels that had fortified Hamas, dismantle the last Hamas battalions, bring home the remaining hostages, and break the administrative control of Hamas over all of Gaza,” the newspaper wrote.
(In other topics: Artificial Intelligence: the risks of an algorithm deciding who lives and who dies in a war)
Why is the ICJ limited in stopping Israel?
Israel’s disobedience could be reported to the UN General Assembly and Security Council
The clearest example is the precautionary measures issued by the ICJ in March 2022, when it unsuccessfully ordered Russia to stop its military offensive in Ukraine.
“Israel’s disobedience could be reported to the UN General Assembly and Security Council, which could lead to a condemnatory resolution.” or to international sanctions. Diplomatically, Israel’s defiance of the ICJ ruling could worsen its relationship with other UN member states. Furthermore, disobedience could erode Israel’s legitimacy on the international stage and undermine its ability to defend its interests in future legal controversies,” the analyst told this newspaper.
Netanyahu, pressured by the international community
“We evacuated a million residents from Rafah who are not involved and, despite our efforts, a tragic accident occurred yesterday (Sunday),” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in parliament.
Avi Hyman, a spokesman for the Israeli government, declared that “any loss of life, of civilian life, is serious and terrible,” and declared that the country is making an effort to minimize the harm to the Palestinians.
The Military Prosecutor General, Major General Yifat Tomer Yerushalmi, also ordered a thorough investigation to be carried out by the Investigation and Evaluation Mechanism of the Army General Staff, a unit composed of former military personnel who, according to the military prosecutor, “examine exceptional incidents in combat”.
However, the first investigations reported by the Army of the Hebrew country assure that in the bombing there was an “error in identification” of the targets that led to civilian casualties, although Israel did not acknowledge a specific death toll.
“Prior to the attack, a series of measures were taken to reduce the risk of harm to uninvolved civilians, including aerial surveillance, the deployment of precise munitions and additional intelligence information. Based on these measures it was assessed that no harm was expected. to civilians,” the Army reported in a statement.
The UN, for example, called on Israel to carry out a “thorough and transparent” investigation into the bombing, while calling for those responsible to be held accountable for any wrongdoing and for the country to take immediate measures to protect civilians.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, also declared himself “horrified” by the attack, and went further by proposing that the European Union relaunch the community border assistance mission in Rafah.
The president of the African Union, Mousa Faki Mahamat, for his part, assured that “Israel continues to violate international law with impunity and disregard the ICJ ruling,” while Qatar, a mediator in the negotiations seeking to reach a truce, stated that The bombing could hinder dialogue between the parties.
The leaders of European countries such as France and Belgium also spoke out, showing that Netanyahu seems increasingly cornered on the international level.
ANGIE NATALY RUIZ HURTADO – INTERNATIONAL EDITORIAL – EL TIEMPO
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