Palestinian health and civil emergency service authorities reported that at least 35 Palestinians were killed and numerous more were injured by Israeli airstrikes in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip city, that was set aside for the displaced.
The Israeli air force, according to the Israeli military, targeted a Hamas compound near Rafah using “precise ammunition and on the basis of precise intelligence.” It alleged that it removed the senior officer responsible for fatal attacks against Israelis, as well as the head of staff for Hamas in the West Bank.
“The IDF is aware of reports indicating that as a result of the strike and fire that was ignited, several civilians in the area were harmed. The incident is under review,” said the military.
Ashraf Al-Qidra, the spokesman for the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, reported that the strike claimed the lives of 35 individuals and injured numerous others, most of whom were women and children.
The attack happened in Rafah’s western Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood, where thousands of civilians were seeking safety after many of them had evacuated the city’s eastern neighborhoods, where Israeli forces had launched a ground offensive more than two weeks prior.
According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, numerous casualties were being admitted to neighboring hospitals as well as its field hospital in Rafah.
Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official, called the Rafah strike a “massacre” and blamed the US for providing Israel with financial and military support.
One of the inhabitants who arrived at the Kuwaiti hospital in Rafah said, “The air strikes burned the tents, the tents are melting, and the people’s bodies are also melting.”
