African Union condemns Israeli airstrikes on Rafah, calls for cease-fire

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) - African Union Commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat condemned Sudan’s Israeli airstrikes on a refugee camp in the southern Gaza city of Rafah that resulted in the deaths of dozens of Palestinians, primarily women and children.

"With horrific overnight airstrikes killing mostly Palestinian women and children trapped in a displacement camp in Rafah, the State of Israel continues to violate international law with impunity," Mahamat said in a statement.

"The ICJ order must be urgently enforced if global order is to prevail. Ceasefire now," Mahamat added.

He emphasized that the actions by Israel display a blatant contempt for a recent International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling, which ordered Israel to cease its military operations in Rafah.

At least 35 people were killed and dozens injured as Israel targeted a camp for displaced people and houses in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Sunday, said medical sources and officials.

The attack occurred near the logistics base of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in Tal al-Sultan, said the Gaza Media Office.

The attack came despite a ruling by the ICJ that ordered Israel to halt its offensive in Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

Israel has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 last year.

The military campaign has turned much of the enclave of 2.3 million people into ruins, leaving most civilians homeless and at risk of famine.