Israeli attack on tent camp in southern Gaza leaves at least 25 dead
Israeli forces on Friday conducted an attack on tent camps holding displaced Palestinians in Gaza, leaving at least 25 people dead and another 50 wounded, according to emergency and health workers in Gaza.
The attack occurred near Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, close by to a Red Cross field hospital, which received at least 22 deceased individuals and 45 others who were wounded, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Friday.
Additional casualties were also reported, the humanitarian organization noted.
The “heavy-caliber projectiles” damaged the ICRC office, which is close to tents holding hundreds of displaced civilians, including hospital workers, the ICRC said.
Relatives of those killed who witnessed Friday’s attack told The Associated Press Israeli forces fired a second volley that killed people as they came out of their tents.
The AP reported a total of at least 25 deaths and 50 injuries, citing the Gaza Health Ministry.
According to a spokesperson for Civil Defense first responders in Rafah, the attacks occurred at two locations in a coastal area near the Red Cross hospital, The AP reported.
The locations appeared to be outside of an Israeli-designated safe zone on the Mediterranean coast, called Muwasi, the news wire added. The attack is under review by the Israeli military, which also noted “there is no indication that a strike was carried out by the IDF [Israeli Defense Forces],” inside the area.
The attack marks the latest violence in Gaza, where more than 37,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 85,000 others have been wounded since early October, per the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
An estimated 1.7 million people have been displaced in Gaza, which separately is experiencing a “full-blown famine” in the northern part of the region, per the United Nations.
The Israel-Hamas war, which has lasted more than eight months, began when the Palestinian militant group conducted a surprise attack against southern Israel that left approximately 1,200 dead and 250 others in captivity.
Israel has vowed to intensify its operations in Rafah, which it has called the stronghold of the last parts of Hamas’s convention army.
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