A Palestinian refugee camp burns after a new Israeli bombing, killing dozens of defenseless women and children, Rafah, southern Gaza, Palestine, May 26, 2024. Photo: Reuters.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, at least 45 people were killed and dozens injured this Sunday after Israeli forces bombarded a refugee camp near Rafah with missiles in the southern Gaza Strip. People had moved to the camp after the Zionist occupation recently declared the area a “safe zone.”
After the attacks, fires broke out in the Tel al-Sultan refugee camp, preventing access to ambulances and Civil Defense personnel.
Images of charred bodies and a child decapitated by the explosion have been circulating on social media. “We retrieved a large number of child martyrs from the Israeli bombardment, including a child without a head and children whose bodies have turned into fragments,” a Palestinian paramedic told Anadolu news agency.
HORROR EN #RAFAH ‼️
Bebés decapitados y cuerpos completamente carbonizados, tras el ataque de #Israel a las tiendas de campaña de los refugiados palestinos.
Las autoridades israelíes han tenido el descaro de decir que ellos apuntaron a un almacén lleno de terroristas de #Hamas,… pic.twitter.com/3tT2aGL2tm
— 🇮🇷🇵🇸 Noureen_Shiraz 🇷🇺🇦🇲 (@NOUREEN_SHIRAZ) May 26, 2024
The Palestinian Ministry of Health has confirmed that the airstrikes on the camp, located northwest of Rafah city, left a large number of casualties. The search for the missing continues.
An Al Jazeera correspondent reported that the victims, mostly children and women, were in their tents when the fire broke out. Furthermore, he said that the hospitals receiving the injured do not have enough equipment and medicines to treat them.
تغطية صحفية: ارتقاء فلسطينيين وجرحى واندلاع حرائق؛ بقصف الاحتلال محيط خيام النازحين شمال غرب مدينة رفح. pic.twitter.com/s8K6uqtPsa
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) May 26, 2024
The Gaza Emergency Committee stated that this massacre contradicts all of Israel’s claims that there are safe areas in Rafah for the civilian population.
“The Rafah massacre is a clear message from Israel to the ICJ and the international community that attacks against civilians in Gaza continue,” said the Media Office of Gaza in its statement, referring to the International Court of Justice.
On Friday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to stop its military offensive in Rafah city. Since then, the IDF has carried out over 60 air operations in the city. Dozens of artillery shells and constant gunfire have been shot against Palestinians in the city, according to the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor.
The media office further noted that at least 190 Palestinians had been killed and injured in the last 24 hours. It is the result of the Israeli army’s targeting of over 10 shelters for displaced people in the Gaza Strip.
‘Israel’ Ignores ICJ Order of Halting Rafah Assault, Massacres Dozens of Palestinians
The Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza said the death toll from the overnight Israeli attack on displaced Palestinians’ tents in Rafah has risen from 35 to 45 as the attack sparks condemnation worldwide.
Venezuela condemns the new massacre
Through social media, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil expressed his firm condemnation of the unjustified Israeli military attacks that caused at least 50 deaths.
Gil described the scenes coming from Rafah as “terrifying” and accused the Israeli forces of perpetrating a “genocide visible to the international community.” He expressed his indignation over the attack that he classified as “unstoppable barbarism caused by the evil of Zionism.”
Minister Gil highlighted that the attack resulted in the loss of innocent lives, including women and children. He placed the blame squarely on the Israeli authorities, accusing them of acting under the tolerance of Western powers. In this sense, the Venezuelan foreign minister also emphasized the need for a global response and urged the international community to undertake actions that allow the arrest and prosecution of those responsible, whom he compared to the “Nazi regime.”
(Alba Ciudad) with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SF
