Gaza: Israel attacks displaced people in tent camp and kills 40

Dozens of people were killed in Rafah late Sunday when an Israeli airstrike hit an area where displaced civilians had taken shelter in tents. The attack sparked a fire that engulfed the entire camp, local authorities said.

Images showed the area ablaze as screaming Palestinians fled for their lives. Some videos shared on social media showed disturbing images, including badly burned bodies and a man holding what appeared to be the headless body of a small child.

The attack was condemned by UN officials and Arab leaders, just days after the UN’s top court ordered Israel to halt its offensive on the southern Gaza city, where more than a million people had sought refuge. Qatar warned that the attack could hamper efforts to broker a ceasefire, while Israel’s own military prosecutor said the “very serious” incident was being investigated.

The Israel Defense Forces said they had targeted two senior Hamas leaders but were investigating reports that the fire had spread to areas where civilians had sought shelter.

NBC News was unable to independently verify the situation on the ground.

“They said it was safe”

Gaza’s Health Ministry reported that at least 35 people were killed in the Tal al-Sultan neighborhood, most of them women and children. Rescue workers had warned that the number of victims could rise, as many were trapped in the flames that broke out after the bombardment.

And on Monday, the Palestinian civil defense in Rafah said the death toll had risen to at least 40.

“This massacre is the largest in the city of Rafah in months,” Palestinian Civil Defense spokesman Muhammad Al-Mughir told NBC News, stressing that the affected area was a designated “humanitarian zone” next to UN warehouses.

One family described their agonizing escape after the home they were seeking shelter in was apparently affected.

“Suddenly windows shattered,” Hala Siam told the NBC News team on the scene. “The children were scared. We all ran out into the streets.”

“They said it was safe,” Siam said of the area where she and her family sought shelter. “There is no safe place in Rafah.”

The Israeli forces said their attack was directed against two Hamas leaders who They are responsible for organizing terrorist attacks in the occupied West Bank. She said she was aware of reports that civilian tents were set on fire during the attack and that the incident was being “investigated.”

“The attack was directed against legitimate targets under international law,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement, adding that they used “precise munitions” based on “precise intelligence indicating that Hamas was using the area.”

The Israeli army did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether its attack took place in an area within a designated security zone.

Israel’s chief military prosecutor described the incident as “very serious” and pointed out that an investigation was ongoing.

“The Israeli Defense Forces regret any harm inflicted on non-combatants during the war,” Major General Yifat Tomer Yerushalmi said at a conference of the Israel Lawyers Association, French broadcaster France 24 reported.

In a statement, Hamas called the attack a gruesome “massacre,” but did not confirm the death of the commander or senior leader.

Earlier on Sunday, Hamas’ military wing, the Qassam Brigades, announced a rocket attack on Israel aimed at Tel Aviv. The Israeli military said it had identified eight missiles crossing into Israeli territory from the Rafah area and that several missiles had been intercepted.

An NBC News reporter witnessed one of these intercepts after sirens sounded in Israel for the first time in several weeks of impending shelling. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage in the area.

When a video of the deadly attack in Rafah emerged on Sunday evening, outrage grew in the international community. The mediators Qatar and Egypt condemned the attack “in the strongest possible terms” and described it as a violation of international law.

Qatar, a key mediator in negotiations with Hamas over a ceasefire that would ensure the release of hostages still held by Hamas, said on Monday that the attack could jeopardize ceasefire efforts.

There appears to have been no public comment from the Biden administration as of Monday morning.

In a briefing last Wednesday ahead of the International Court of Justice’s decision, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Israel’s military operations appeared to have been “more targeted and limited.”

He said he had been briefed by Israeli officials on plans to “achieve its military objectives while taking into account the harm to civilians,” but said there was “no mathematical formula” to determine whether Israel was meeting its obligations.

President Joe Biden had loudly warned Israel against a full-scale attack on Rafah and threatened to stop the supply of certain weapons if the country launched a major offensive.

In its ruling, the ICJ said that at least 800,000 people had been forced to leave the area after Israel launched ground operations there earlier this month, but that many more people remained there.

An Israeli official told NBC News on Friday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was meeting with legal advisers to review the ruling, which the ICJ has no authority to enforce.

Netanyahu has faced increasing criticism at home and abroad over the way Israel is waging the war it began after the October 7 Hamas-led attack. Official estimates say 1,200 people have been killed; about 250 more have been taken hostage, and about half of them are believed to still be in Gaza. About a quarter of the remaining hostages are believed to be dead.

According to local health authorities, more than 35,000 people have been killed in the last seven months of war in Gaza. Aid agencies warn of dire conditions for civilians who lack access to food and clean water, which could lead to a rapid spread of disease and possibly famine in some areas of the enclave.