At least 20 killed in Israeli shelling of refugee tents west of Rafah

By Anadolu staff

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – At least 20 Palestinians were killed on Tuesday in an Israeli attack on a refugee tent encampment west of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, according to local authorities.

Dozens of people, mostly women and children, were also injured in the attack that targeted refugee tents in al-Mawasi area, the Rafah Emergency Committee said in a statement.

“This is a war crime to be added to Israel’s terrorist record as it continues its violations of all international resolutions and decisions of the International Court of Justice,” it added.

The committee called for rallies in all cities around the world on Tuesday “to condemn the crimes of genocide and Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip.”

The targeted tent encampment is located around 100 meters away from a US field hospital west of Rafah, according to Palestinian sources.

The Israeli army had previously designated al-Mawasi area as a “safe zone” for displaced civilians in Rafah.

At least 45 Palestinians were killed and dozens injured in a similar Israeli attack on a tent encampment in Tel al-Sultan area on Saturday.

Israel expanded its ground offensive in Rafah on Tuesday, with its tanks reaching the center of the city.

Israel's current expansion of its incursion into the city makes the Israeli army close to fully control the border area between Gaza and Egypt, known as the Philadelphi Corridor, a demilitarized buffer zone running along the Gaza-Egypt border.

The Israeli army has so far seized control of almost two-thirds of the corridor area as it advances under heavy bombardment and shelling.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023 following a Hamas attack despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in the enclave.

Nearly 36,100 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority being women and children, and over 81,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Nearly eight months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of “genocide” at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in its latest ruling has ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala in Istanbul