ISRAEL faced fresh condemnation today for strikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah that local health officials said had killed at least 45 Palestinians, including displaced people living in tents that were engulfed by fire.
The country has provoked a growing storm of international condemnation over its military action in the now devastated coastal strip, with even close allies expressing outrage at civilian deaths.
Israel is seeking to wipe out Islamist resistance group Hamas, but, showing that it’s far from beaten, the resistance group launched a barrage of rockets on Sunday from the city towards central Israel, causing no injuries.
Tel Aviv said today it was looking into the civilian deaths in Rafah after its forces struck a Hamas installation and killed two senior militants.
Sunday night’s attack, which appeared to be one of the deadliest since the start of the current violence, helped push the overall Palestinian death toll above 36,000, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
“We pulled out people who were in an unbearable state,” said Mohammed Abuassa, who rushed to the scene in the north-western district of Tel al-Sultan. “We pulled out children who were in pieces. We pulled out young and elderly people. The fire in the camp was unreal.”
…