The Israeli army has launched an investigation following an Israeli air strike on a refugee camp near the city of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip that left dozens dead. The army’s attorney general has instructed the General Staff’s Investigation and Assessment Mechanism to investigate the attack, the army said on Monday.
The Islamist Hamas blames Israel for the attack, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it a “tragic mishap.” Israel’s actions were sharply criticized internationally.
According to Hamas, the nighttime attack sparked a fire in the camp. Images from the AFP news agency showed the charred remains of makeshift tents and vehicles. The Hamas-controlled Gaza Civil Defense Authority said many of the bodies were “burned.”
“Yesterday’s massacre in Rafah left 45 people dead, including 23 women, children and elderly people,” the Hamas Health Ministry said. The number of injured was 249. According to Palestinian sources, the camp is the Barkasat refugee camp, northwest of Rafah, run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
The International Red Cross said that numerous people had arrived at one of its field hospitals and needed treatment for “injuries and burns”: “Our teams are doing their best to save lives.”
In Rafah, we evacuated one million innocent residents.
Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister
The Israeli army, however, declared that it had “hit a Hamas complex in Rafah”in which “important Hamas terrorists were active”. The attack with “precision munitions” was directed against “legitimate targets”.
The attack reportedly killed two senior Hamas officials who had been involved in planning attacks in the occupied West Bank. However, the Israeli army also said it was investigating reports “indicating that several civilians in the area were injured as a result of the attack and fire.”
Later, another army statement said that the Army Attorney General had ordered an investigation. Before the air strike, Several measures have been taken “to reduce the risk of harm to innocent civilians”The measures included “surveillance of the airspace, the use of precision munitions by the Israeli Air Force and additional intelligence information.”
Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu expressed regret over the deaths of innocent civilians in Rafah on Monday. “In Rafah, we evacuated one million innocent residents,” he told parliament in Jerusalem. Despite Israel’s efforts, however, a “tragic mishap” occurred. “We are investigating the case and will draw conclusions from it.”
A government spokesman had previously announced that the attack would be reviewed. “It was really serious. Any loss of life, of civilian life, is something serious and terrible,” said Avi Hyman.
The Israeli airstrike on Rafah followed a massive rocket attack from Rafah. According to Israeli sources, rockets were fired at Tel Aviv and central Israel on Sunday for the first time in months. The armed wing of Hamas said it had fired a “large barrage of rockets” at the Israeli metropolis.
More than a million people have sought refuge from the Israeli offensive on the border with Egypt. Israel locates the last remaining Hamas battalions there.