Israel is ramping up airstrikes in Rafah as we speak, regardless of worldwide outcry over the lethal shelling of a crowded IDP camp within the metropolis, which led to an emergency assembly of the UN Safety Council to debate the state of affairs in that sector of the Gaza Strip.
Recognition of the State of Palestine
For his or her half, Spain, Norway and Eire will formally acknowledge a Palestinian state as we speak throughout a press convention in Brussels, as they introduced final week, prompting an indignant response from Israel’s authorities.
Within the subject, AFP groups within the metropolis reported within the early hours of the morning that new shelling had been launched in central and western Rafah, on the southern fringe of the Gaza Strip, the place the Israeli military has been conducting floor operations for the reason that starting of Might.
New airstrikes regardless of worldwide outcry
The brand new airstrikes got here amid worldwide outcry and condemnation of the bombing of a displaced individuals camp on Sunday night time, which killed 45 folks and injured 249 others, based on the Gaza Strip well being ministry, because it sparked a hearth that unfold throughout scenes. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu known as the bombing a “tragic accident.”
The Israeli army stated it was investigating the civilian deaths after initially saying it had focused two Hamas operatives with “precision munitions”.
The USA is up in arms
“Outraged”, the US authorities known as on its ally Israel to “take all precautions to guard civilians”, Canadian diplomacy expressed “horror”, French President Emmanuel Macron “indignation”.
Mass demonstrations in Paris
About 10,000 folks gathered close to the Israeli embassy within the French capital to denounce the bombing. The compact crowd held Palestinian flags, banners and placards that learn slogans comparable to “do not kill a toddler, neither Israeli nor Palestinian,” “Cease the bombing, freedom for Palestine,” “We’re Rafa’s kids,” “Rafa, Gaza, we’re with you” and so forth, AFP journalists came upon.
“There is no such thing as a protected place in Gaza”
“I condemn Israel’s actions which have killed dozens of harmless civilians, who had been simply asking to be protected against this murderous warfare. There is no such thing as a protected location in Gaza. This horror should cease,” stated the UN Secretary Common Antonio Guterres.
“To say it was a ‘mistake’ means nothing to those that had been killed, to those that mourn, to those that are attempting to avoid wasting lives,” stated UN Beneath-Secretary-Common for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths. calling the shelling of the displaced individuals camp “completely unacceptable”, which “causes disgust”.
Emergency session of the UN Safety Council
The UN Safety Council is holding an emergency assembly this afternoon (New York time), diplomatic sources stated. The emergency assembly, behind closed doorways, was known as on the request of Algeria, a non-permanent member of the Safety Council representing Arab nations, and was supported by Slovenia, the sources defined. The UN has known as for a “full and clear” investigation into the shelling of the Rafah camp.
“charred corpses”
Palestinian Civil Safety reported a number of “charred” our bodies within the hearth that swept by means of the Barkasat displaced individuals camp, run by the UNRWA, northwest of Rafah. “We noticed our bodies charred, dismembered (…) mutilated, kids, ladies and the aged” who had been injured, stated Mohammed al-Mughair, a Civil Safety employee within the Gaza Strip.
“Hell on Earth”
Pictures taken by staff of the Palestinian Crimson Crescent, which identified that the bombed web site had been designated by the Israeli army as a “humanitarian zone”, present the chaos: ambulances with sirens screaming, ambulances in the course of the night time within the burning camp the place the wounded are staying, among the many kids. Footage taken by AFP cameramen after the bombing reveals charred our bodies inside tents or automobile trunks.
“They burned alive”
“Folks weren’t simply killed or injured, they had been burned alive,” stated Mohammad Hamad, 24. “My cousin’s daughter, a 13-year-old baby, is among the many ‘witnesses.’ Her options had been nearly unrecognizable, shards tore her face.”
“Final night time’s photos are tangible proof that Rafa has become hell on Earth,” UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini stated by way of X, including that UNRWA staff are “lacking”.
Regardless of the Hague resolution
The lethal shelling of the camp got here hours after the town fired eight rockets at Tel Aviv, an motion claimed by Hamas’s army arm, and likewise two days after a brand new ruling by the Worldwide Court docket of Justice in The Hague, the highest of the UN judicial physique, which on Friday ordered Israel to cease its operations in Rafah.
800,000 Palestinians on the run
In keeping with the United Nations, Israeli floor operations have already compelled, in about three weeks, about 800,000 Palestinians to flee, in different phrases individuals who had taken refuge in Rafah due to the warfare to be displaced once more.
The warfare erupted when Hamas’ army wing launched an unprecedented raid on southern sectors of Israeli territory on October 7, killing greater than 1,170 folks, principally civilians, based on an AFP tally primarily based on official Israeli figures. knowledge. Of the opposite 252 folks kidnapped and brought to the Palestinian enclave, 121 are believed to be nonetheless being held hostage there, however 37 of them are believed to be useless, based on the Israeli army.
At the very least 36,050 folks within the Gaza Strip have been killed to this point within the wide-scale, devastating army retaliatory operations by Israel, whose political and army management has vowed to wipe out Hamas, based on the Palestinian Islamist motion’s well being ministry.
Diplomatic efforts
Egypt, which is mediating with Qatar and the US in diplomatic efforts to conclude a ceasefire settlement, condemned the “deliberate shelling” launched by the Israeli military in opposition to “tents of the displaced”.
For its half, Qatar warned that Israeli shelling of Rafah may “complicate mediation efforts”, because the UN warned of an imminent risk of famine within the besieged Gaza Strip, the place most hospitals are now not functioning.
Supply: APE-MPE, AFP, ertnews.gr
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