Israel is facing international criticism on Monday after an airstrike in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah reportedly killed some 35 people, most of them civilians, and at least two terrorists.
Turkish President Recap Tayyip Erdogan says his country will do “everything possible” to hold the “barbaric” Israeli military to account over Israel’s deadly strike on Rafah on Sunday evening.
An Israeli overnight airstrike on Gaza’s southernmost city reportedly killed around 35 people, including two high-ranking Hamas officials, according to the IDF.
Yassin Rabia, who led Hamas’s West Bank headquarters, and Khaled Najjar, another senior figure in the unit, were killed in the Tel Sultan area of northwestern Rafah. Rabia was in charge of all military operations from these headquarters, responsible for coordinating numerous attacks against Israel and facilitating the transfer of funds for terrorist activities. Rabia is said to have personally conducted lethal attacks in 2001 and 2002, resulting in the deaths of Israeli soldiers.
The IDF has acknowledged that the strike and ensuing fire, which engulfed several tents and shelters in the area, has caused civilian casualties and is conducting an ongoing investigation into the incident.
Erdogan said, in response to the blast: “We will do everything possible to hold these barbarians and murders accountable who have nothing to do with humanity.”
The Palestinian Authority presidency accused Israel of “deliberately targeting” the tents of displaced people, and said the perpetration “of this heinous massacre by the Israeli occupation forces is a challenge to all international legitimacy resolutions,”
Egypt’s Foreign Ministry also accused the IDF of deliberately targeting civilians, and called on Israel to “implement the measures ordered by the International Court of Justice concerning an immediate cessation of military operations” in Rafah.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he was “outraged by the Israeli strikes that have killed many displaced persons in Rafah. These operations must stop. There are no safe areas in Rafah for Palestinian civilians. I call for full respect for international law and an immediate ceasefire.”
The attack comes despite the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday ordering Israel immediately halt its assault of the city.
Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheál Martin, also condemned the “heinous” air strikes during a press conference in Brussels. The Fianna Fáil leader was speaking alongside foreign ministers from Spain and Norway, countries which have decided to recognise the state of Palestine alongside Ireland.
Spanish foreign affairs minister, Jose Manuel Albares, suggested European countries should consider taking action if Israel continues to disregard the ICJ court order. He said: “I think that this time we have to raise our voice, not only for an immediate ceasefire, but also to back international law and the United Nations charter,
“If Israel continues to pursue [its assault] against that opinion of the International Court of Justice, that we try to take the right measures to enforce that decision.”
The matter would be raised during a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday, he said.
