In Gaza, Civil Defense announced the death of 21 people in a new Israeli strike on Tuesday May 28 on a displaced persons camp in Rafah, in the south of the Palestinian territory. And this, two days after the deadly bombing which caused the death of 45 people, according to local authorities.
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Twenty-one dead, this is the toll given Tuesday by Civil Defense and the Ministry of Health to Gaza, which specifies that in addition, 64 people were injured, ten of them seriously. Images circulating on social media show bodies lying in the sand. A location is given: the Al-Mawasi area, supposed to be secure, west of Rafah. For the moment, no official confirmation from local authorities.
As for the Israeli army, it denies this. The army did not hit the humanitarian zone in Al-Mawasi », We can read in the press release.
During the day, Agence France-Presse also reported the advance of Israeli tanks in the strategic town of Rafah, as we recall, in the south of the Gaza Strip, on the Egyptian border.
Israel launched an operation there in early May and took the crossing point, preventing the delivery of humanitarian aid. And despite international condemnation after the Israeli bombing on Sunday evening, which caused the death of 45 Palestinians sheltering in tents, we have the impression that nothing is stopping this offensive. Since the start of the conflict, 36,000 Palestinians, including 15,000 children, have been killed.
This Tuesday, May 28, the United States reacted to Sunday’s strike, saying ” deeply saddened » by the number of Palestinians killed, while saying they follow “ from close » the results of the Israeli army’s investigation, which they want ” fast and transparent “.
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Washington will continue to emphasize to Israel its obligation to fully comply with international humanitarian law, to minimize the impact of its operations on civilians and to maximize the flow of humanitarian aid to those in need “, said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
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Sunday, “our munitions alone could not have caused a fire of this magnitude,” says the army
Also this Tuesday, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, spokesperson for the Israeli army, discussed the first elements of the investigation that the army says it is carrying out on Sunday’s strike. The investigation is still ongoing, he said. But according to him, the munitions used that day for a strike on Rafah cannot have “ on their own » provoked « a fire of this magnitude “.
According to the officer, the army targeted and killed two senior Hamas officials in northwest Rafah in an airstrike, following which a fire broke out and ravaged a camp for displaced Palestinians located “ from a distance “, he said, from the targeted location. According to the Ministry of Health of the Gaza government led by the Islamist movement Hamas, the Israeli strike left, among the 45 people dead, “ 23, women, children and the elderly “.
Admiral Hagari states that two warheads of 17 kilograms of explosives each, “ the lowest (load) that can be used » Israeli warplanes, had been used in “ based on precise information “. “ We are examining all possibilities, including the option that weapons stored in the compound next to our target… could have exploded after the strike. “, he continues. “ Despite our efforts to limit civilian casualties, the fire that broke out was unexpected and unintentional. »
While the UN has asked Israel for an investigation “ complete and transparent “, Benyamin Netanyahu, for his part, qualified the factsMonday, from “ tragic accident “.
To rereadIn the news: the global shock after the deadly bombing of Rafah