An Israeli attack on the city of Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, on Sunday (26) left at least 45 people dead, according to authorities in the Palestinian territory. The offensive caused a fire at the site, which destroyed structures and vehicles. See images of the destruction in the gallery above.
The Israeli government claims that the attack was directed against a Hamas structure, with two high-ranking members of the armed group killed in the action.
Furthermore, an Israeli official noted that civilians may have died as a result of the fire.
The military highlighted that they carried out the operation “based on accurate intelligence”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attack was not intended to cause civilian casualties and would be investigated.
“In Rafah, we have already evacuated around 1 million non-combatant residents and, despite our best efforts not to harm the non-combatants, something unfortunately went tragically wrong,” he said in a speech in Parliament that was interrupted by shouts from opposition parliamentarians.
Hamas, for its part, highlighted that the Israeli claim that there were fighters in the area is “shameful” and that the case shows that the Netanyahu government is defying the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling that the attacks in Rafah cease.
See more images of the destruction after the attack:
World leaders condemn attack
The United States said the attack was “heartbreaking” and that it will investigate the action, which killed “dozens of innocent Palestinians”.
Furthermore, several world leaders condemned Israel's attack on Rafah.
Germany and the European Union stressed that the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for Israel to cease attacks in Rafah must be respected.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he was “outraged” by the action. “These operations must stop. There are no safe areas in Rafah for Palestinian civilians,” Macron said in an X post.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees highlighted that the situation is horrific. “Gaza is hell on earth. The images from last night are further proof of this”, wrote UNRWA on X.
*with information from CNN and Reuters
Source: CNN Brasil
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