International rights groups and leaders who for months have demanded a cease-fire in Gaza expressed renewed horror as images emerged from Israel’s Sunday bombing of a tent camp that had been set up by forcibly displaced Palestinians in Rafah, with women and children making up the majority of the 45 people who were reportedly killed in the attack.
Emergency workers told NBC News that the death toll was likely to rise, as many people had been trapped in the encampment as it was engulfed in flames.
NBC reported that the strike took place less than a mile away from a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) medical facility, where at least 180 injured people arrived on Sunday.
“We are horrified by this deadly event, which shows once again that nowhere is safe,” said MSF on social media.
Muhammad Al-Mughir, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Civil Defense, told NBC that the Tal al-Sultan neighborhood that was attacked had been designated a “humanitarian area” in Rafah, from which more than 800,000 people have been forcibly displaced this month as Israel has launched a ground invasion. More than 1 million people have been forced to flee to Rafah since October, when Israel began its siege in Gaza.
The bombing came two days after the International Court of Justice issued its latest order to Israel regarding its assault on Gaza, telling the government that it “must immediately halt its military offensive or any other action in the Rafah governorate” and that the ICJ was not convinced by Israel’s claims that it was taking steps to protect civilians.
Israeli officials offered familiar statements regarding the attack, saying the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had been aiming for two senior Hamas leaders,........