The U.N. Security Council is set to meet Tuesday to discuss the situation in Rafah following an Israeli airstrike that killed 45 Palestinians sheltering in a refugee camp and wounded 200 others.
Israel’s military said is it looking into the possibility that weapons stored in the area hit by the Israeli strike may have sparked a deadly fire at the refugee camp Sunday. A military spokesman said Tuesday the munitions used in the Israeli strike were too small to set off a big blaze.
The Gaza Health Ministry said the attack ignited tent fires in an area sheltering displaced people. Israel said it killed two senior Hamas militants in the attack.
Ahead of the U.N. meeting on the incident, medical personnel and residents reported new Israeli airstrikes Tuesday in the area of the same camp Israeli forces hit Sunday.
The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said Tuesday that more than 1 million people have fled Rafah in the past three weeks amid Israel’s offensive.
“This happened with nowhere safe to go & amidst bombardments, lack of food & water, piles of waste & unsuitable living conditions,” the agency said on X. “Day after day, providing assistance & protection becomes nearly impossible.”
U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths issued a statement late Monday calling the Sunday attack “utterly unacceptable” and criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s explanation that what happened in Rafah was a “tragic mistake.”
“Whether the attack was a war crime or a ‘tragic mistake,’ for the people of Gaza, there is no debate,” Griffiths said. “What happened last night was the latest — and possibly most cruel — abomination. To call it ‘a mistake’ is a message that means nothing for those killed, those grieving, and those trying to save lives.”
Griffiths said the U.N. “warned that a military operation in Rafah would lead to a slaughter” and added that there are no safe areas or humanitarian zones in Gaza.
“Despite our best effort, not to harm those not involved, unfortunately a tragic mistake happened last night. We are investigating the case,” Netanyahu told the Israeli parliament.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Israel needs to carry out an offensive in Rafah in order to achieve its goal of ensuring Hamas cannot operate in Gaza and threaten Israel in the future.
