Israel’s argument of self-defence against Hamas has become a flawed narrative that fails to acknowledge the disproportionate use of force and the impact on civilian populations.
In the past few hours, the Tal as-Sultan area, meant to be a sanctuary for Palestinians already suffering the ravages of displacement, became a scene of unimaginable horror.
Israeli forces bombed a tent camp housing displaced people in the designated safe zone in Rafah, killing at least 40 Palestinians.
The incident exacerbated the vulnerability of Palestinians who have nowhere else to turn.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) disclosed that many of the people inside the tents in the Tal as-Sultan area were “burned alive.”
The PRCS added that hospitals in the area “are incapable of handling this large number of victims as a result of the [Israeli] occupation’s deliberate destruction of the health system in Gaza.”
Dr. Mohammed al-Mughayyir, who heads Gaza’s Civil Defense teams, revealed that it took the team approximately 45 minutes to suppress the fire in the area.
“Most of the bodies were charred and burned, while the injured people lost limbs and suffered other injuries due to the use of potentially internationally prohibited weapons that caused the massive fire which erupted.”
Dr. Mohammed al-Mughayyir
The Israeli attack followed Hamas’s first rocket attack in four months on the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.
Israel confirmed the attack, saying that it struck a Hamas compound in Rafah.
In a post on X, the Israeli military stated that it “eliminated” Yassin Rabia and Khaled Nagar, two senior Hamas officials in “Judea and Samaria,” a biblical term for the occupied West Bank.
The military said that Rabia and Nagar had “planned Hamas terrorist attacks throughout Judea and Samaria” and added that they had both “also carried out numerous attacks, in which [Israeli] soldiers were killed.”
Aida Touma-Sliman, a Palestinian citizen of Israel and a legislator in the Israeli Knesset, denounced the latest attack on Rafah.
“Hundreds killed and wounded in the last hour in Rafah. This time the bombings fell in a dense area of displaced residents that Israel declared a safe area,” she posted on X.
“We were warned that entering Rafah would lead to another heavy humanitarian disaster,” she added..
“The clear demands of the International Criminal Court of Justice that [Israel] stop any attacks that would harm an innocent civilian population is being trampled on.
“This bloody government refuses to obey all orders of the tribunal, and is taking the madness and vindictiveness to a new criminal level.”
Aida Touma-Sliman
After the bombing that killed 40 people in Rafah, Israeli forces continued their attacks across the Gaza Strip.
U.S Accused Of Tacit Endorsement Of Injustice
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a Spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that he held the administration of U.S President Biden responsible for Israeli crimes and demanded that Washington “compel Israel to stop the madness and genocide it is committing in Gaza.”
He condemned the Israeli attack on Tal as-Sultan as a “massacre that exceeds all boundaries.”
Abu Rudeineh “stressed the urgent need for an intervention to stop the crimes committed against the Palestinian people immediately.”
He said that the “heinous massacre” is a challenge to international orders, including “the lucid and candid ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordering Israel to cease its military offensive against the city of Rafah and provide protection to the Palestinian people.”
US Congressman, Ro Khanna also called on the Israeli Prime Minister, Bemjamin Netanyahu to end the assault on the southern Gaza city.
“The horrific loss of innocent lives today with the bombing of a refugee camp underscores the moral urgency of stopping the Rafah campaign,” Khanna noted.
Moreover, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the UN special rapporteur on the right to housing, called for action against Israel in the wake of its latest attack on displaced Palestinians in Rafah.
“Attacking women and children while they cower in their shelters in Rafah is a monstrous atrocity. We need concerted global action to stop Israel’s actions now,” he said in a post on X.
