35 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike
The Israel Air Force’s Top Legal Official, Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, Rejoinds Military Investigations into Military Conduct in the First Two Years of Israeli War
“Naturally, in a war of such scope and intensity, complex incidents also occur,” General Tomer-Yerushalmi said in a speech to the Israeli Bar Association. “Some of the incidents, like last night’s incident in Rafah, are very serious.” She added that the military “regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians during the war.”
The Israeli military’s top legal official, Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi said on Monday, that the airstrike was under review. She said the military police had opened around 70 criminal investigations into potential misconduct during the war.
He said that the tents were tightly packed. It’s possible that a fire of this magnitude could cause catastrophic consequences in a very short space of time.
The Gaza Strip of Rafah: The Last Refuge for Palestinians before the March 11, 1948 Israeli War. Dr. James Smith, a Palestinian Medical Assistant
The last refuge for Palestinians before this month was Rafah, which was devastated by the war. The United Nations says more than a million Palestininans were sheltered in Rafah, but since the Israeli military expanded their operations there many have fled. In the areas that aren’t under an order to be evacuated, there is still a lot of people.
Speaking from a house a few miles away from the trauma center, a distance that he said had become too dangerous to cross, Dr. Smith said footage shared by his colleagues at the trauma center of injuries from the strike and the fire were “truly some of the worst that I have seen.”
Dr. James Smith said the injured were taken to a trauma stabilization center in Tal al-Sultan, and then to surrounding field hospitals for further treatment. Many hospitals in the Gaza Strip and the surrounding areas were ordered to be closed by the Israeli military in recent months.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said its ambulance crews have taken a large number of victims to the Tal as Sultan clinic and field hospitals in Rafah, where there are few functioning hospitals.
Mr. al-Sapti said he saw charred bodies and people screaming at the scene of the strike. He said that the fire was very strong and was all over the camp. “There was darkness and no electricity.”
There was a damage to the tent where he, his wife and two children were staying, but they were uninjured.
The Israeli military’s attack on a Hamas installation: “The explosion happened in Tal al-Sultan,” Israel’s health ministry
Some of Israel’s allies don’t see the order in that way. Robert Habeck, Germany’s vice chancellor, stated that Israel’s offensive was incompatible with international law.
The Israeli military said it was targeting a Hamas installation and had killed two of its members. The strike caused a fire in an encampment just west of Rafah in a neighborhood called Tal al-Sultan, where dozens of Palestinians were sheltering. The area was designated a safe zone by the Israeli military, which dropped leaflets in the area last week saying humanitarian aid would be available there.
The Israeli military said in a statement on Monday that it had taken a number of steps before the strike to reduce the risk of harming uninvolved civilians. There would be no expected harm to un involved civilians, based on the military’s measures.
But at least 45 people were killed by the blast and subsequent fires, according to the Gaza health ministry, including 23 women, children and older people. The ministry reported that more than 200 people were wounded.
A big noise was heard at 6:30pm yesterday. I heard an explosion, it sounded like an earthquake,” he told NPR. I jumped out of the window to see children that had been injured and one with no head.
An Israeli official tells the story of a tragic shooting at a camp for displaced Palestinians: “The tragedy of Rafah is coming home”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under increasing domestic pressure to negotiate a ceasefire deal to bring the remaining hostages home. Israel has seen weekly protests by the families of hostages and others who want Netanyahu to step down. He is also under pressure by hard liners in his government that do not want a complete ceasefire.
Israeli media is reporting that officials say that negotiations are supposed to resume next week. There were some high level conversations in Paris this weekend between the U.S. CIA and the Israeli Mossad.
With international condemnation mounting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said Monday that the killing of dozens of people in a camp for displaced Palestinians in Rafah was “a tragic accident,” but gave no sign of curbing the Israeli offensive there.
The official said that an initial investigation by the military had found that the strike may have accidentally set off a fire at the site. The witnesses said there were intense fires after the strike.
Military drone footage of the attack, reviewed by The New York Times, showed the munition striking an area housing several large cabinlike structures and parked cars.