Rafah airstrike that killed dozens of displaced Palestinians was 'tragic mistake', says Israel's Netanyahu

27 May 2024, 22:35

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called strikes on the Gaza city of Rafah that killed at least 45 Palestinians a 'tragic mistake'.

Israel is now facing surging international criticism over its war with Hamas following the attacks on displaced Palestinians, many of them who had fled northern Gaza cities over Israel's military action on the region.

People living in tents were engulfed by fire, witnesses reported during the deadly strikes on Sunday night.

Some of Israel's closest allies, particularly the United States, are expressing outrage at the civilian deaths following the strikes, which appeared to be one of the deadliest of the war so far.

More than 36,000 Palestinians have now been killed since Israel began its retaliatory action on Gaza following Hamas' October 7 onslaught, according to Gaza's Health Ministry - which does not distinguish between fighters and non-combatants in its tally.

Israel continues to assert, however, that it adheres to international law even as it faces scrutiny in the world's top courts, one of which last week demanded that it halt its offensive in Rafah.

Read More: Dozens killed as Israeli airstrike blasts Rafah refugee camp after Hamas fires rockets towards Tel Aviv

Read More: Three more Israeli hostages found dead in Gaza, as army says Hamas killed them on October 7

Netanyahu said there had been a "tragic mistake" as he addressed Israel's parliament, saying the country's officials were investigating the strike.

"In Rafah, we have already evacuated about a million non-involved residents and despite our best efforts not to harm the non-involved, unfortunately, a technical failure happened last night," he said.

Israel claimed the strike hit a Hamas installation and killed two senior Hamas militants.

The Gaza Health Ministry said around half of the dead were women, children and older adults. On Monday, barefoot children poked at the blackened debris as searches continued.

France, a close European ally of Israel, said it was "outraged" by the violence.

"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," French President Emmanuel Macron posted on X.

Rafah, the southernmost Gaza city on the border with Egypt, had been housing more than a million people - about half of Gaza's population - displaced from other parts of the territory. Most have fled once again since Israel launched what it called a limited incursion there earlier this month. Hundreds of thousands are packed into squalid tent camps in and around the city.

Netanyahu says Israel must destroy what he calls Hamas's last remaining battalions in Rafah. The militant group on Sunday launched a barrage of rockets from the city towards heavily populated central Israel, setting off air raid sirens but causing no injuries.

Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said that bombings like the one in Rafah will have long-standing repercussions for Israel.

"Israel with this choice is spreading hatred, rooting hatred that will involve their children and grandchildren. I would have preferred another decision,'' he told SKY TG24.

Qatar, a key mediator between Israel and Hamas in attempts to secure a ceasefire and the release of hostages held by Hamas, said the strikes could "complicate" talks. Negotiations, which appear to be restarting, have faltered repeatedly over Hamas's demand for a lasting truce and the withdrawal of Israeli forces, terms Israeli leaders have publicly rejected.

Neighbouring Egypt and Jordan, which made peace with Israel decades ago, also condemned the Rafah strikes.

Egypt's Foreign Ministry described the strike on Tel al-Sultan as a "new and blatant violation of the rules of humanitarian international law".

Jordan's Foreign Ministry called it a "war crime".

The Israeli military's top legal official said authorities were examining the strikes and that the military regrets the loss of civilian life. Military Advocate General Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi said such incidents occur "in a war of such scope and intensity".

Speaking to an Israeli lawyers' conference, Tomer-Yerushalmi said Israel has launched 70 criminal investigations into incidents that aroused suspicions of international law violations, including the deaths of civilians, the conditions at a detention facility holding suspected Palestinian militants and the deaths of some inmates in Israeli custody. She said incidents of "violence, property crimes and looting" were also being examined.

Israel has long maintained it has an independent judiciary capable of investigating and prosecuting abuses. But rights groups say Israeli authorities routinely fail to fully investigate violence against Palestinians and that even when soldiers are held accountable the punishment is usually light.

Israel has adamantly denied allegations of genocide brought against it by South Africa at the International Court of Justice. Last week, the court ordered Israel to halt its offensive in Rafah, a ruling that it has no power to enforce.

Separately, the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court is seeking arrest warrants against Mr Netanyahu and Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant, as well as three Hamas leaders, over alleged crimes linked to the war.

Israel says it does its best to adhere to the laws of war and says it faces an enemy that makes no such commitment, embeds itself in civilian areas and refuses to release Israeli hostages unconditionally.