Gaza camp hit by deadly strike as Israel denies involvement, civil defence reports 21 dead
Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp area housing internally displaced people in Rafah. — AFP pic
Wednesday, 29 May 2024 9:42 AM MYT
RAFAH, May 29 — A civil defence official in Hamas-run Gaza said an Israeli strike on a displacement camp west of Rafah yesterday killed at least 21 people, after a similar strike that sparked global outrage.
Israel denied carrying out the latest reported strike, which occurred hours ahead of a UN Security Council meeting to discuss a Sunday strike which Palestinian officials said killed 45 people.
Despite mounting concerns over the civilian toll of its war on Hamas, Israel has shown no signs of changing course and international efforts aimed at securing a ceasefire remain stalled.
In the latest bloodshed, Gaza’s civil defence agency official Mohammad al-Mughayyir said 21 people were killed in an “occupation strike targeting the tents of displaced people” in west Rafah. Hamas said an Israeli strike on the area caused “dozens of martyrs and wounded”.
Israel’s army rejected the allegations, saying it “did not strike” the designated humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi.
In Rafah, residents and a Palestinian security source said Israeli tanks had now penetrated the heart of the southern city.
“People are currently inside their homes because anyone who moves is being shot at by Israeli drones,”
Wednesday, 29 May 2024 9:42 AM MYT
RAFAH, May 29 — A civil defence official in Hamas-run Gaza said an Israeli strike on a displacement camp west of Rafah yesterday killed at least 21 people, after a similar strike that sparked global outrage.
Israel denied carrying out the latest reported strike, which occurred hours ahead of a UN Security Council meeting to discuss a Sunday strike which Palestinian officials said killed 45 people.
Despite mounting concerns over the civilian toll of its war on Hamas, Israel has shown no signs of changing course and international efforts aimed at securing a ceasefire remain stalled.
In the latest bloodshed, Gaza’s civil defence agency official Mohammad al-Mughayyir said 21 people were killed in an “occupation strike targeting the tents of displaced people” in west Rafah. Hamas said an Israeli strike on the area caused “dozens of martyrs and wounded”.
Israel’s army rejected the allegations, saying it “did not strike” the designated humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi.
In Rafah, residents and a Palestinian security source said Israeli tanks had now penetrated the heart of the southern city.
“People are currently inside their homes because anyone who moves is being shot at by Israeli drones,”
one resident, Abdel Khatib, said.
‘Random bombing’
An emergency United Nations Security Council meeting is due today to discuss Sunday’s deadly strike.
Ahead of the meeting, Israel’s military said the weapons used in that strike “could not” have caused the deadly blaze in the camp.
“Our munition alone could not have ignited a fire of this size,” said military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari.
Sunday evening’s strike, which medics said also wounded hundreds of civilians, drew worldwide condemnation.
The sight of the charred carnage, blackened corpses and children being rushed to hospitals led UN chief Antonio Guterres to declare that: “There is no safe place in Gaza. This horror must stop.”
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to the strike as a “tragic accident” but affirmed the continuation of the campaign to destroy Hamas over the October 7 attack and to bring home all the hostages.
Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad on Tuesday released a video showing an Israeli hostage alive and held in Gaza, identified by Israeli media as Sasha Trupanov, 28.
Air strikes and shelling battered Gaza overnight Monday-Tuesday — including the Tal al-Sultan area where the displacement camp went up in flames near a facility of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.
Faten Jouda, a 30-year-old resident, described the situation as very dangerous.
“We didn’t sleep all night. There was random bombing from all directions, including artillery shelling and air bombardment as well as firing from aircraft.
“We saw everyone fleeing again,” she told AFP. “We too will go now and head to Al-Mawasi because we fear for our lives,” she said of the nearby coastal area Israel has declared a safe “humanitarian zone”.
‘Hell on Earth’
Sunday night’s attack that killed dozens in the displaced persons camp was targeting two senior Hamas members, the Israeli military said.
It said aircraft “struck a Hamas compound” and killed Yassin Rabia and Khaled Nagar, senior officials for the group in the occupied West Bank.
The strike came hours after Hamas fired a barrage of rockets towards Tel Aviv, with most being intercepted.
The civilian death toll in the Gaza camp prompted a wave of condemnation, with Palestinians and many Arab countries calling it a “massacre”.
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said Monday that “the images from last night are testament to how Rafah has turned into hell on Earth”.
On the diplomatic front, Egypt has “intensified efforts to relaunch” negotiations for a “truce and a detainee exchange deal”, the state-linked Al-Qahera News reported. — AFP
An emergency United Nations Security Council meeting is due today to discuss Sunday’s deadly strike.
Ahead of the meeting, Israel’s military said the weapons used in that strike “could not” have caused the deadly blaze in the camp.
“Our munition alone could not have ignited a fire of this size,” said military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari.
Sunday evening’s strike, which medics said also wounded hundreds of civilians, drew worldwide condemnation.
The sight of the charred carnage, blackened corpses and children being rushed to hospitals led UN chief Antonio Guterres to declare that: “There is no safe place in Gaza. This horror must stop.”
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to the strike as a “tragic accident” but affirmed the continuation of the campaign to destroy Hamas over the October 7 attack and to bring home all the hostages.
Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad on Tuesday released a video showing an Israeli hostage alive and held in Gaza, identified by Israeli media as Sasha Trupanov, 28.
Air strikes and shelling battered Gaza overnight Monday-Tuesday — including the Tal al-Sultan area where the displacement camp went up in flames near a facility of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.
Faten Jouda, a 30-year-old resident, described the situation as very dangerous.
“We didn’t sleep all night. There was random bombing from all directions, including artillery shelling and air bombardment as well as firing from aircraft.
“We saw everyone fleeing again,” she told AFP. “We too will go now and head to Al-Mawasi because we fear for our lives,” she said of the nearby coastal area Israel has declared a safe “humanitarian zone”.
‘Hell on Earth’
Sunday night’s attack that killed dozens in the displaced persons camp was targeting two senior Hamas members, the Israeli military said.
It said aircraft “struck a Hamas compound” and killed Yassin Rabia and Khaled Nagar, senior officials for the group in the occupied West Bank.
The strike came hours after Hamas fired a barrage of rockets towards Tel Aviv, with most being intercepted.
The civilian death toll in the Gaza camp prompted a wave of condemnation, with Palestinians and many Arab countries calling it a “massacre”.
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said Monday that “the images from last night are testament to how Rafah has turned into hell on Earth”.
On the diplomatic front, Egypt has “intensified efforts to relaunch” negotiations for a “truce and a detainee exchange deal”, the state-linked Al-Qahera News reported. — AFP
***
kt comments:
The "Beast of Babylon" is continuing its evil genocide of Palestinians (all Palestinians, and not just Hamas) in its wicked aim to cleanse Gaza (and soon, the West Bank) to seize its self-proclaimed dreamed-of 'Judea & Samaria' - a Shylock-ish "L ebensraum".
From the "jewishvoiceforpeace"
The Israeli government ...
... is making Jewish Supremacy official. This means increasing Israel’s displacement, harm and possible expulsion of Palestinians. More land theft, greater restriction of movement, increased imprisonment, and more surveillance and censorship.
To usher in the new government, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted, “The Jewish people have an exclusive and unquestionable right to all areas of the Land of Israel. The government will promote and develop settlement in all parts of the Land of Israel,”
To usher in the new government, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted, “The Jewish people have an exclusive and unquestionable right to all areas of the Land of Israel. The government will promote and develop settlement in all parts of the Land of Israel,”
In its brazen and horrifying effort to ensure the state of Israel protects Jews exclusively, the new Israeli government continues to affirm Zionism as a deeply entrenched form of settler colonialism and Jewish supremacy.
The Israeli government's commitment to and reliance on settler colonialism has been evident since its beginning — from the Nakba that founded the state to the promises of complete annexation the new government made today. This is apartheid in its clearest iteration.
The Israeli government’s latest incarnation is set on furthering its basis in settler colonialism to total annexation of Palestinian land and complete erasure of Palestinian people.
This level of violence is the product of settler colonialism that is foundational to Zionism. And it’s clear the newest government only plans to build on this bedrock of Jewish supremacy.
Its equally evil but grossly stupid Macai, sit in lapdog blind obedience, eager and anxious as usual to rush supplies of deadly weapons and munitions to its Lord and Massa Supreme, and to wield its wicked 'veto' in the UNSC to prevent anyone from stopping the "Beast" from its hell-bent murderous rampage
What if the deaths came primarily from secondary explosions.
ReplyDeleteThat means the Beast of Babylon gave rise to even more blasts from the Demon of Canaan.
It is well known that Hamas treats Gazans as just Human Shields
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/inquiry-after-israeli-forces-caught-using-boy-as-shield-561052.html
DeleteA photograph of a Palestinian boy tied to an Israeli police jeep has been handed to justice officials charged with investigating complaints over the use of "human shields" against demonstrators.
A photograph of a Palestinian boy tied to an Israeli police jeep has been handed to justice officials charged with investigating complaints over the use of "human shields" against demonstrators.
The boy, 13-year-old Mohammed Bedwan, and three adult protesters were tied to border police vehicles last week during one of what have become almost daily demonstrations against the routing of the Israeli government's barrier through Palestinian land.
The photograph, taken by human rights activists in the village of Biddo, north-west of Jerusalem, shows Mohammed tied by an arm to a mesh on the jeep windscreen - a mesh intended to protect the vehicle and its driver against stones and rocks. Police said last night that the Justice Ministry's police complaints unit was investigating the case.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/mar/23/gaza-human-shields-claim
DeleteThis article is more than 15 years old
Palestinian brothers: Israel used us as human shields in Gaza war
This article is more than 15 years old
Three teenage boys say they were made to kneel in front of tanks to deter Hamas attacks
Clancy Chassay
Tue 24 Mar 2009 02.56 AEDT
Share
Human shield allegations guardian.co.uk
Israel has been accused of using Palestinian human shields during its invasion of Gaza, a breach of the Geneva conventions that prohibit intentionally putting civilian lives at risk.The Guardian has interviewed three Gazan brothers who described how they were taken from their home at gunpoint, made to kneel in front of tanks to deter Hamas fighters from firing and sent by Israeli soldiers into Palestinian houses to clear them.
"They would make us go first, so if any fighters shot at them the bullets would hit us, not them," said 14-year-old Al'a al-Attar.
His brothers, Ali, 15, and Nafiz, 16, described how when the three of them were being led through built-up areas in their home town of Attartra, the soldiers would order them to suddenly stop ‑ then fire their rifles over the brothers' shoulders and between their legs.
Second Intifada. Israeli officials reported that the Israel Defense Forces made use of the "human shield" procedure on 1,200 occasions during the Second Intifada (2000–2005). An example of this was chaining a 13-year-old Palestinian boy to an Israeli armored vehicle.
DeleteThis mfering Zionist sympathiser is going ALL-OUT to whitewash the atrocities done to the Palestinians!
DeleteWhat does it get?
A pent in the Zionist state!