A “tragic accident”. It is with these words that Benjamin Netanyahu described this Monday, May 27, the events of the previous evening, near Rafah. An Israeli airstrike caused a fire in a camp for displaced people in the southern Gaza Strip, killing at least 45 people and injuring 249 others, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.
“In Rafah, we evacuated a million residents who were not involved and, despite all efforts, a tragic accident occurred yesterday. We are investigating what happened and we will draw conclusions,” declared Benyamin Netanyahu in front of the Israeli Parliament. While pointing the finger at Hamas: “For us, it is a tragedy, for Hamas, it is a strategy,” he added.
An investigation opened by the Israeli army
These statements are in line with the speech of the Israeli executive, which had already begun to change its official statements at the start of the day, while justifying the legitimacy of this strike. According to Israeli government spokesperson Avi Hyman, the strike targeted two Hamas members responsible for “numerous attacks in Judea and Samaria”, Jewish biblical terms for the occupied West Bank. “They were covered in Israeli blood,” he denounced. “According to initial information, a fire broke out after the attack. These ‘terrorists’ were hiding in the basement,” Avi Hyman said during a press briefing.
“We are looking into the matter. It was really serious. Any loss of life, of civilian life, is something serious and terrible,” the Israeli government spokesperson also added, affirming that Israel was seeking to “limit civilian casualties”.
The Israeli army, for its part, announced on Monday that it was investigating this event. “Prior to the strike, a number of measures were taken to reduce the risk of harm to civilians not involved during the strike, including the use of aerial surveillance, the use of ‘precise munitions’ by the IDF Israeli air force, and additional intelligence information,” the IDF said in a statement.
Strong international condemnations
Just a few days after the decision of the International Court of Justice, the highest court of the UN, calling on Israel to “immediately” stop its operation in Rafah, this new attack provoked strong condemnations from the international community. The UN envoy for the Middle East, Tor Wennesland, “condemned the Israeli strikes” and called for a “full and transparent” investigation, while the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, for his part, said he was “horrified”. For his part, Emmanuel Macron said he was “outraged by the Israeli strikes which caused numerous victims among the displaced in Rafah”, calling for an “immediate ceasefire”.
Still facing the Israeli Parliament this Monday, Benjamin Netanyahu castigated the pressures, coming “from home and from abroad”, exerted according to him against his government since the start of the war against Hamas. “They put pressure on us: ‘Don’t enter Gaza,’ and we entered! ‘Don’t enter Chifa’ (named after the largest hospital in the Palestinian territory, editor’s note), and we entered. ‘Don’t enter Rafah!’ and we went back!”, he said in front of families of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, who were installed in the area reserved for the public and booed him.
“I am not giving up and I will not give up! I am resisting national and international pressure,” he continued, echoing in particular the criticism of the Israeli opposition, some members of which are calling for his resignation.