Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the strike a “tragic mistake,” according to the Haaretz newspaper.
This is not the first time Israel has attacked areas where Palestinians have been ordered to flee. Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city on the Egyptian border, was seen as the last refuge.
The EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, called on Israel to halt operations in Rafah. “Israel is continuing the military actions it has been asked to stop,” he said.
“Both sides do not respect the rules,” Borrell said, noting that Hamas had fired rockets at Tel Aviv, but some of them were intercepted by air defense systems, according to the Israeli military. There have been no reports of injuries resulting from Hamas airstrikes.
“Innocent men, women and children were dismembered and burned alive,” Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s former first minister, wrote on X. “Witness the image and ask yourself: Are you on the right side of history?”
The airstrikes on the refugee camps come as Western military, diplomatic and moral support for Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip is increasingly being questioned. In the eight months since October 7, at least 35,000 Palestinians have lost their lives.
