RAFAH, Palestinian Territories: Israel’s attack on Gaza on Monday, which, Gaza officials said, killed 45 people in a Palestinian refugee camp, drew global condemnation.
The Israeli army, meanwhile, announced that it has launched an investigation into the incident, which has been heavily criticized by several countries and organizations.
The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting on the Rafah attack, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack, which killed scores of innocent civilians who were only seeking shelter from this deadly conflict.
“There is no safe place in Gaza. This horror must stop,” Guterres said in a social media post as other UN officials also called for a thorough investigation into the massacre.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he was appalled by the news in Rafah of an Israeli airstrike that killed dozens of displaced people, including young children, as he condemned the incident in the strongest possible terms. EU foreign ministers agreed to hold a meeting with Israel for clarification.
The US government said Israel must do more to protect civilians. “As we’ve been clear, Israel must take every precaution possible to protect civilians,” a US National Security Council spokesman said in a statement. He added: “We are actively engaging the IDF and partners on the ground to assess what happened.”
“With horrific overnight air strikes killing mostly Palestinian women & children… the State of Israel continues to violate international law with impunity and in contempt of an International Court of Justice ruling two days ago ordering an end to its military action in Rafah,” AU Commission head Moussa Faki Mahamat said on X.
“The ICJ order must be urgently enforced if global order is to prevail,” he added.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on X that 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.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to do everything possible to hold these barbarians and murderers accountable who have nothing to do with humanity.
The foreign ministry of Egypt deplored the tragic incident and denounced the targeting of defenceless civilians and a systematic policy aimed at widening the scope of death and destruction in the Gaza Strip.
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Egypt called on Israel to implement the measures ordered by the ICJ concerning an immediate cessation of military operations in Rafah.
Foreign minister of Chile strongly condemned the indiscriminate attack by the Israel Defence Forces on the Rafah civilian refugee camp, also calling on Israel to comply with international humanitarian law and the measures ordered by the ICJ.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric wrote “Criminals” on his Instagram account next to a post about the Israeli attack.
