Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday vowed to continue the war against Hamas amid international condemnation of the airstrikes that killed dozens of Palestinians in Rafah.
At least 45 people were killed and hundreds more were treated for severe burns, fractures and shrapnel injuries, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Prime Minister Netanyahu told Israel’s parliament that the attack was a “tragic accident” but added, “I have no intention of ending the war until all goals have been achieved.”
He said it was important for Israel to take “every possible precaution” to protect civilians and asserted that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was making “its best efforts to avoid harm to those not involved” in the conflict. .
The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday at Algeria’s request to discuss the Rafah airstrikes.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement Monday that the airstrikes “killed dozens of innocent civilians seeking refuge from this deadly conflict.”
“There is no safe place in Gaza. This terror must stop,” he said.
Netanyahu’s speech was interrupted by intermittent jeers from families of hostages kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7, some of whom criticized him for failing to strike a deal for the return of their loved ones.
“In Rafah, we have already evacuated approximately one million non-combatant residents and despite our best efforts to avoid harming non-combatants, unfortunately something has gone tragically wrong,” he claimed.
“We are investigating the incident and will come to a conclusion because this is our policy.”
International organizations lined up to condemn the strike, with the EU insisting that Israel respect the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) ruling last week to halt the strike against Rafah. The bloc’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, called Sunday’s strike “appalling.”
Despite the ICJ ruling, Israel has pledged to continue its invasion of Rafah, with officials arguing the ruling leaves room for attacks to comply with international law.
U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk said the attack “suggests that there have been no apparent changes in the methods and means of warfare used by Israel that have already resulted in so many civilian deaths.”
Israel launched an offensive on Rafah on Sunday, hours after Hamas launched its first missile attack on Tel Aviv in months.
An IDF official said the attack on Rafah killed two senior Hamas commanders and was investigating civilian deaths in the area.
But the Palestinian Red Crescent said the airstrikes targeted tents for displaced people near a UN facility in Tal al-Sultan, about 2km northwest of the center of Rafah.
Video footage of the scene in the Tal al-Sultan area on Sunday night showed massive explosions and intense fires burning.
Graphic footage showed numerous structures burning next to a banner that read “Kuwait Peace Camp ‘1’” and emergency workers and bystanders carrying several bodies.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said at least 28 people, including women and children, had died in one of its facilities following Monday’s strike.
It said it had treated another 180 injured Palestinians, most of them suffering from serious shrapnel wounds, fractures, trauma and burns.
Doctors Without Borders dismissed Israeli reports that the airstrikes were accurate, saying, “The attack on a densely populated camp in the so-called ‘safe zone’ in Rafah shows a complete disregard for the lives of civilians in the Gaza Strip.”
The United States called the photos “heartbreaking” but insisted Israel had the right to defend itself.
“Israel has the right to pursue Hamas,” the White House national security spokesman said. “We understand that this airstrike killed two senior Hamas terrorists responsible for attacks on Israeli civilians.”
But they acknowledged that “Israel must take every possible precaution to protect civilians.”
Israeli officials spent most of Monday trying to figure out what went wrong in Rafah. How did a “precision strike” using special munitions with a “reduced number of warheads” set off a firestorm that killed dozens and injured dozens more?
Israel knows the eyes of the world are on it, following a ruling last week by the ICJ ordering Israel to halt all operations that could cause further harm to Palestinians in the Rafah area. They are under enormous pressure to explain their actions.
The operation is said to have been based on intelligence and both Hamas figures appear to have been killed.
However, the presence of such a huge number of civilians and significant amounts of flammable materials raises many questions about how this event was planned and executed.
A more detailed explanation is expected soon, as top military officials, including IDF spokesman Major General Yifat Tomer Yerushalmi, have promised a thorough investigation.
But whether this will be a turning point in the campaign is another question.
Mr. Netanyahu remains committed to what he calls “complete victory” in Rafah, so there is no sign that Sunday’s disaster will change his mind.
Despite last night’s horrific scenes, Israeli ground forces still appear to be acting somewhat cautiously as they approach the city of Rafah.
So far, their operations have not led to massacres.
But this is exactly what last night’s airstrikes achieved, dealing another blow to Israel’s already tarnished image and undermining its reason to keep pushing.
Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip began after Hamas gunmen attacked Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking 252 hostages to the Gaza Strip.
The conflict has since killed more than 36,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
