Israel bombs yet another Gaza camp it had declared a safe zone
Al Jazeera
Officials say many bodies were ‘charred’ after the strikes triggered a fire that ripped through the camp in Rafah.
The Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza says the death toll from an overnight Israeli attack on the tents of displaced Palestinians in Rafah has risen to 45 as the attack sparks condemnation across the Arab and Western world.
In scenes grimly familiar from a war in its eighth month, Palestinian families on Monday rushed to hospitals to prepare their dead for burial after the Sunday night attack set tents and rickety shelters ablaze. Women wept as men held prayers beside bodies in shrouds.
“The whole world is witnessing Rafah getting burned up by Israel and no one is doing anything to stop it,” Bassam, a Rafah resident, said via a chat app, of the attack in an area of western Rafah that had been designated a safe zone.
The attack took place in the Tal As-Sultan neighbourhood, where thousands were sheltering after Israeli forces began a ground offensive in the east of Rafah more than two weeks ago.
Many of the dead were women and children, the health officials said, adding that the death toll was likely to rise as some injured people with severe burns were in critical condition.
