Deadly IDF Gaza strike which killed 45 branded a 'tragic mistake' by Benjamin Netanyahu
Israeli forces attacked a camp for internally displaced person on Sunday night, seeking to destroy a Hamas installation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has admitted that a “tragic mistake” was made after an Israeli strike in Gaza hit a camp housing displaced Palestinians, reportedly killing at least 45 people.
On Sunday night a strike by the IDF said to be targeting a Hamas terror installation In Rafah has since been turned into one of the biggest single losses of civilian life in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war.
Israel's military had earlier said that it launched an investigation into civilian deaths after the attack which it said had killed two senior militants.
Sunday night's strike helped push the overall Palestinian death toll in the war above 36,000, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and noncombatants in its tally.
Speaking to the Israeli Parliament, known as the Knesset, Prime Minister Netanyahu said: “Despite our utmost efforts not to harm innocent civilians, last night, there was a tragic mistake.
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“We are investigating the incident and will obtain a conclusion because this is our policy.”
Mohammed Abuassa, a Palestinian who rushed to the scene in the northwestern neighbourhood of Tel al-Sultan, said rescuers "pulled out people who were in an unbearable state.”
He said: “We pulled out children who were in pieces. We pulled out young and elderly people. The fire in the camp was unreal."
At least 45 people were killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and the Palestinian Red Crescent rescue service. The ministry said the dead included at least 12 women, eight children and three older adults, with another three bodies burned beyond recognition.
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In a separate development, Egypt’s military said one of its soldiers was shot dead during an exchange of fire in the Rafah area, without providing further details. Israel said it was in contact with Egyptian authorities, and both sides said they were investigating.
Rafah, the southernmost Gaza city on the border with Egypt, had housed more than a million people, about half of Gaza's population, displaced from other parts of the territory.
On Sunday Hamas launched a barrage of rockets from Gaza towards heavily populated central Israel, setting off air raid sirens but causing no injuries.
The US National Security Council said in a statement that the “devastating images" from the strike on Rafah "are heartbreaking." It said the US was working with the Israeli military and others to assess what happened.
French President Emmanuel Macron was more blunt, saying “these operations must stop” in a post on X. "There are no safe areas in Rafah for Palestinian civilians. I call for full respect for international law and an immediate ceasefire,” he wrote.
