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‘Heinous massacre’: Israel’s attack on Rafah tent camp widely condemned [1]
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Date: 2024-05-27
Qatar calls attack that killed at least 40 Palestinians a ‘grave violation of international laws’ and UN special rapporteur urges sanctions on Israel.
Several countries and global organisations have condemned the Israeli air attack on tents housing displaced people in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah that killed at least 40 Palestinians, including many children.
The Palestinian presidency on Monday accused Israel of deliberately targeting civilians, joining a chorus of worldwide condemnation following the attack.
“The perpetration of this heinous massacre by the Israeli occupation forces is a challenge to all international legitimacy resolutions,” the Palestinian presidency said in a statement, accusing Israeli forces of “deliberately targeting” the tents of displaced people.
In a statement on X, the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) said the images from Rafah are yet another testament that Gaza is “hell on earth”.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri called the attack a “massacre”, holding the United States responsible for aiding Israel with weapons and money.
Israel’s top military prosecutor described the attack as “very grave” and said an investigation will be conducted. “The details of the incident are still under an investigation, which we are committed to conducting to the fullest extent,” Major-General Yifat Tomer Yerushalmi told a news conference, adding that the Israeli army “regrets any harm to non-combatants during the war”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that a “tragic mistake” had been made.
“Despite our utmost efforts not to harm innocent civilians, last night, there was a tragic mistake,” Netanyahu said in an address to Israel’s parliament. “We are investigating the incident and will obtain a conclusion because this is our policy.”
Palestinian witnesses and Al Jazeera’s fact-checking agency Sanad said the camp sheltering civilians in Rafah’s Tal as-Sultan area was deliberately targeted.
The Wafa news agency, citing the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), said the dead included women and children, with many “burned alive” inside their tents.
One of the residents who arrived at the Kuwaiti Hospital in Rafah said the “tents were melting and the people’s bodies are also melting” after the attack.
Here are some reactions from governments and other officials from around the world:
‘Deliberate bombardment’
Qatar condemned the Rafah attack as a grave violation of international laws that will aggravate the humanitarian crisis in the besieged Gaza Strip. It said the attack could hinder mediation efforts to reach a ceasefire and hostage exchange deal, according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Qatar, alongside the US and Egypt, has been engaged in months of talks aimed at securing a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Egypt condemned the “deliberate bombardment”. In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on Israel to “implement the measures ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concerning an immediate cessation of military operations” in Rafah.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country would do “everything possible” to hold “barbaric” Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to account over the deadly strikes. “We will do everything possible to hold these barbarians and murderers accountable who have nothing to do with humanity,” he said.
Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said the bombing of Rafah was “one more day with innocent Palestinian civilians being killed”. He said the gravity of the attack “is even larger” because it comes after the ICJ order directing Israel to halt its operation in Rafah and the rest of Gaza.
Ireland’s Foreign Minister Micheal Martin described the attack as “barbaric”. “One cannot bomb an area like that without shocking consequences in terms of innocent children and civilians. We would urge Israel to stop, to stop now, in terms of the military operation in Rafah.”
Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said the attacks are a “material breach of the decision of the highest court of the world”. He added: “We’ve had a compulsory order from the International Court of Justice ordering Israel to stop its attack in Rafah. It is compulsory. It’s binding.”
The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Israel must abide by the ICJ ruling to stop its offensive in Rafah as EU foreign ministers met their Arab counterparts in Brussels hours after Israel’s deadly attack on Rafah.
Before the EU ministers’ meeting on Monday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said, “International humanitarian law applies for all, also for Israel’s conduct of the war.”
Jeremy Corbyn, the former leader of the United Kingdom’s Labour Party, labelled Israel’s bombing of the Rafah camp a “monstrous failure of humanity”. In a post on X, he said, “Palestinian children should wake up feeling excited to go to school and play with their friends. Instead, for those murdered in Rafah, their last moments on this earth were filled with unimaginable fear as bombs rained down on their tents.”
‘Children dismembered, burnt alive’
Humza Yousaf, the former first minister of Scotland, posted on X: “Days after the ICJ orders Israel to halt its military offensive in Rafah, the Israeli Government bombs displaced people living in tents. Innocent men, women & children dismembered and burnt alive. Bear witness to the images and ask yourself, are you on the right side of history?”
In one of the strongest criticisms Italy has made so far, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said the Israeli attacks were no longer justifiable. “There is an increasingly difficult situation, in which the Palestinian people are being squeezed without regard for the rights of innocent men, women and children who have nothing to do with Hamas and this can no longer be justified,” he said. “We are watching the situation with despair.”
Jagmeet Singh, a Canadian legislator and leader of the New Democratic Party, posted on X: “The world is failing the people of Gaza. Canada is failing the people of Gaza.”
US House Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat, urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “immediately halt” the assault on Rafah. “The horrific loss of innocent lives today with the bombing of a refugee camp underscores the moral urgency of stopping the Rafah campaign,” he said.
Aida Touma-Sliman, a Palestinian citizen of Israel and member of the Israeli Knesset, denounced the Netanyahu government for its “madness and vindictiveness”. Writing on X, Touma-Sliman said, “This bloody government refuses to obey all orders of the tribunal, and is taking the madness and vindictiveness to a new criminal level.”
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territory, described Israel’s attack on the tent camp in Rafah as “unacceptable”. In a post on X, she wrote, “The #GazaGenocide will not easily end without external pressure: Israel must face sanctions, justice, suspension of agreements, trade, partnership and investments, as well as participation in int’l forums.”
‘Monstrous atrocity’
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[1] Url:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/27/heinous-massacre-israels-attacks-on-rafah-tent-camp-widely-condemned
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