The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have launched an overnight attack on a refugee camp in Rafah. An estimated 50 people were killed on Sunday in a camp sheltering displaced people near the densely populated southern border city, which currently houses roughly half of the Gaza Strip’s 2.3 million population, whom Israel itself directed there for refuge.
Hamas launched eight missiles into Israel some hours earlier on Sunday, though no casualties were reported. The Hamas bombardment was the first of its kind since January.
Families seeking refuge in and around Rafah were ordered by Israel’s military on 6 May to evacuate due to an imminent ground invasion. The Tal al-Sultan area in Rafah, the site of Sunday’s massacre, was not included in the areas ordered to be evacuated, and it had been designated a humanitarian zone, according to AP News.
Women and children made up the majority of the dead as civilian tents burned under the overnight bombardment. Israel also reportedly killed two Hamas leaders.
“The air strikes burnt the tents, the tents are melting and the people’s bodies are also melting,” a camp resident said, as reported by Reuters.
Doctors without Borders, operating on the ground, said the deadly event showed “nowhere is safe” in Gaza, although the humanitarian operation in Gaza was described as “near collapse” by the spokesperson for UN Chief Antonio Guterres.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the United Nation’s top court, ordered Israel to halt the assault in Rafah. This came shortly after another the prosecution at another court in the Hague, the International Criminal Court (ICC), requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and others on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Israel’s action in Gaza, which has so far resulted in the deaths of some 36,000 Palestinians in response to the 7 October attack that killed 1,200 Israelis, has widely been condemned as genocidal. A hearing in the ICJ lodged by South Africa implicates Israel under the Genocide Convention, including the large-scale killing of civilians, particularly children, mass displacement and expulsion of Palestinians, destruction of their homes, and the intent to wipe out the Palestinian people.
Global protests demand an immediate ceasefire, while a number of European nations have moved to recognise the State of Palestine officially.
Meanwhile, Israel has barred the Spanish consulate in Jerusalem from serving Palestinians, in response to Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares announcing he plans to urge all ICJ member states to take steps to ensure Israel respects its decisions, including the specific demand to stop its operation in Rafah.
