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Israel's deadly attack in Rafah is condemned

2024-05-27 19:16:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

A deadly Israeli airstrike on the town of Rafah in the Gaza Strip has prompted strong reactions from world leaders, who called for an International Court of Justice order to halt the attacks.

Palestinian health workers said at least 45 people were killed Sunday by Israeli airstrikes in the southern city of Rafah.

Among those killed were displaced people who were living in tents, which were engulfed in fire.

International criticism of Israel is growing for its war against Hamas - the group declared a terrorist by the United States and the European Union. Even the closest allies, including the US, have expressed outrage at the killing of civilians.

Germany's Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, and the European Union's head of foreign policy and security, Josep Borrell, said that the decision of the International Court of Justice should be respected.

"International law applies to everyone, including the way Israel is waging war, as well," Baerbock said.

Israel has said it is investigating the civilian deaths, and that Sunday's attack hit a Hamas outpost and killed two senior members of the radical group.

Sunday's attack, which appears to be one of the deadliest, brought the total number of Palestinians killed in the more than seven-month war in Gaza to more than 36,000, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

This Minister said that about half of those killed are women, children and the elderly.

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

"These operations must definitely be stopped. There are no safe areas in Rafah for Palestinian civilians. I call for international law to be fully respected and for an immediate ceasefire," French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on the X social network.

Rafah, the southern Gaza city on the border with Egypt, is home to more than a million people - about half of Gaza's total population - after being displaced from other parts of the enclave.

Italy's Defense Minister, Guido Crosetto, has said that bombings like the one in Rafah will have long-term consequences for Israel.

"Israel, with this choice, is spreading hatred, ingrained hatred that will include their children and grandchildren. I would prefer another decision", he told SKY TG24.

Qatar, a key mediator between Israel and Hamas in talks to reach a ceasefire agreement and the release of Israeli hostages being held by Hamas, said the attack would "scuttle" the talks. The talks have repeatedly failed due to Hamas demands for a long-term ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, which Israel has publicly rejected.

Neighboring countries Egypt and Jordan, which made peace deals with Israel decades ago, condemned the Rafah attack as well.

Egypt's Foreign Ministry described the attack as a "new and flagrant violation of international law". Jordan's Foreign Ministry called it a "war crime".

Sunday's attack came two days after the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to end its military offensive in Rafah, where more than half of Gaza's 2.3 million people have taken refuge, before the Israeli offensive began there on earlier this month.

Israel launched the war in Gaza in response to a Hamas attack in southern Israel on October 7 that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped around 250 others.

The Israeli war has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians, half of them children and women, according to Palestinian health officials.

But the Israeli war has also caused a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, causing about 80 percent of the population to be displaced and hundreds of thousands of people to suffer from hunger, according to UN officials./ Rel