At least 35 people, most of them women and children, were killed in a series of Israeli airstrikes on a Palestinian tent encampment for refugees in western Rafah, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. Dozens more were reportedly injured.
“The Ministry of Health confirms that never before in history has such a large number of mass killing tools been amassed and employed together in front of the world as is happening now in Gaza,” read a statement from the health ministry, adding the enclave continues to suffer serious shortages of food, water, medicine, fuel and electricity.
Witnesses alleged that at least eight airstrikes hit the camp of displaced people, located 600 feet (0.18 km) from a United Nations warehouse. A Palestinian Red Crescent spokesperson said the death toll is likely to rise, also claiming the camp had been identified by the Israeli military as a “humanitarian area.”
A statement from the Israel Defense Forces confirmed the strike, alleging that it was carried out against “legitimate targets.”
“A short while ago, an IDF aircraft struck a Hamas compound in Rafah in which significant Hamas terrorists were operating,” read the statement. “The IDF is aware of reports indicating that as a result of the strike and fire that was ignited several civilians in the area were harmed. The incident is under review.”
The IDF later said that the strike killed Yassin Rabia, the Hamas Chief of Staff in the West Bank, The Jerusalem Post reported.
The attack comes shortly after a barrage of Hamas rockets reached central Israel Sunday, the group’s first long-range strikes in months. No deaths or injuries have been reported as a consequence of the blitz.
Hamas’ military branch justified the attack in a statement on Telegram as a response to “Zionist massacres against civilians.” Earlier in the day, Gaza’s health ministry reported 81 people had been killed by Israeli attacks over the last 24 hours.
The Hamas strike is a new sign of resilience, more than seven months after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to destroy the Palestinian group. Hamas fighters have reemerged in Northern Gaza in recent weeks, provoking domestic criticism of the Israeli leader’s military strategy. Protesters have maintained a near-constant presence in the capital of Tel Aviv and outside Netanyahu’s home.
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis remain internally displaced in Southern Israel as well as the northern portion of the country, where Hezbollah has launched frequent rocket and artillery strikes. It was reported late last year that nearly half a million Israelis have fled the country as the armed conflict drags on.
Almost 36,000 Palestinians have been killed during Israel’s military operation in Gaza, according to the local health ministry, although the death toll is thought to be higher given thousands of bodies still buried underneath the rubble of IDF airstrikes.
“Around 80% of the population's 2.3 million people have fled their homes, severe hunger is widespread and UN officials say parts of the territory are experiencing famine,” according to US media.
UNICEF reports that almost all the 600,000 children taking refuge in the southern Gaza City of Rafah are “injured, sick, or malnourished.”