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DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — At least 16 Palestinians were killed in latest Israeli attacks on Rafah, first responders said Tuesday, while residents reported an escalation of fighting within the southern Gaza city once considered the territory's last refuge.
An Israeli incursion that began in early May has forced nearly 1,000,000 people to flee Rafah, most of whom were already in the war between Israel and HamasThey at the moment are searching for refuge in miserable tent camps and other war-torn areas.
The United States and other close allies of Israel have warned against a large-scale offensive in town. The Biden administration said this could cross a red line and Refusal to offer offensive weapons for such a project. On Friday, the International Court of Justice called on Israel to stop its Rafah offensivean order that it cannot implement.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to press ahead with the move, saying Israeli forces must enter Rafah to crush Hamas and release the hostages held in Rafah. the attack of October 7 that triggered the war.
The latest attacks got here in the identical area where Israel struck an alleged Hamas compound on Sunday night, an attack that ignited a hearth in a camp for displaced Palestinians and killed at the very least 45 people, in line with local health officials. worldwide outrage.
Netanyahu called it a “tragic mishap” The military said it was conducting an investigation.
According to the Palestinian Civil Defense and the Palestinian Red Crescent, a complete of 16 people were killed within the renewed attacks throughout the night within the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood within the northwest of Rafah.
Israel says it’s conducting limited operations in eastern Rafah along the Gaza-Egypt border, but residents also reported heavy bombardments overnight in western Rafah.
“It was a night of horror,” said Abdel-Rahman Abu Ismail, a Palestinian from Gaza City who has sought refuge in Tel al-Sultan since December. He said he heard “constant sounds” of explosions throughout the night and into Tuesday, as fighter jets and drones flew over the realm.
He said it reminded him of the Israeli invasion of his Shijaiyah neighborhood in Gaza City, where Israel launched a heavy bombing campaign before sending ground troops in late 2023. “We've seen this before,” he said.
Sayed al-Masri, a resident of Rafah, said many families had been forced to depart their homes and shelters. Most had moved to the overcrowded Muwasi area, where huge tent camps have been arrange on a barren coast, or to Khan Younis, a city within the south of the country. who suffered severe damage during months of fighting.
“The situation in Rafah is deteriorating,” said al-Masri.
Gaza's Health Ministry said two medical facilities in Tel al-Sultan were out of service because of heavy shelling nearby. Medical Aid for Palestinians, an aid group operating throughout the realm, said the Tel al-Sultan medical center and the Indonesian field hospital were sealed off, trapping doctors, patients and displaced people inside.
Most of the Gaza Strip Hospitals now not functionThe Kuwait Hospital in Rafah was closed on Monday after an attack near the doorway killed two medical experts.
A World Health Organization spokesman said field hospitals within the region were “totally overwhelmed” by the victims of the strike and Sunday's fire, and were already running out of supplies to treat severe burns.
“This requires intensive care, this requires electricity, this requires medical care at the highest level,” Dr. Margaret Harris told reporters in Geneva. “We are increasingly struggling to even have the highly qualified doctors and nurses because they have been displaced.”
The war began when Hamas and other militants entered southern Israel in a surprise attack on October 7, killing about 1,200 civilians and abducting about 250. More than 100 were released during a week-long ceasefire in November in exchange for Palestinians held captive by Israel.
Israel responded to the attack with an enormous air, land and sea offensive that killed at the very least 36,096 Palestinians. Gaza Ministry of Healthwhich doesn’t distinguish between fighters and civilians in its count. About 80% of Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants have been displaced, and United Nations officials say Parts of the country suffer from famine.
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