An Israeli airstrike triggered a massive blaze killing 45 people in a tent camp in the Gaza city of Rafah, officials said on Monday, prompting an outcry from global leaders who urged the implementation of a World Court ruling to halt Israel’s assault.
“There are 249 others who were wounded,” the Gaza health ministry said in a statement. Mohammad al-Mughayyir, a senior official at the civil defence agency, told AFP: “We saw charred bodies and dismembered limbs … We also saw cases of amputations, wounded children, women and the elderly.”
He said that rescue efforts were facing major challenges. “There is a fuel shortage … there are roads that have been destroyed, which hinders the movement of civil defence vehicles in these targeted areas,” Mughayyir said. “There is also a shortage of water to extinguish fires.” Israel has kept up operations in Rafah despite a ruling by the top UN court on Friday ordering it to immediately halt its military operations in the overcrowded city, once claimed by Israel to be a safe zone.
The attack took place in the Tel Al-Sultan neighbourhood, where thousands were sheltering after Israeli forces began a ground offensive in the east of Rafah over two weeks ago. More than half of the dead were women, children, and elderly people, health officials in Gaza said.—Agencies
