Egypt denounces Israel’s bombing of Gaza’s ‘humanitarian safe zone’

By Omar Alothmani

ISTANBUL (AA) - Egypt strongly denounced Israeli airstrikes on a “humanitarian safe zone” in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, which left dozens of civilians dead.

At least 40 people were killed and scores injured in the strikes that targeted a tent camp after midnight in Khan Younis in al-Mawasi area, which Israel has designated as a “humanitarian safe zone” for displaced civilians in Gaza.

Gaza’s civil defense service said the Israeli missiles set refugee tents ablaze and caused craters as deep as nine meters (30 feet) in the area.

"Egypt expresses its deep condemnation of the continued Israeli massacres against civilians in Gaza, in the absence of any effective international action to put an end to this human suffering, which has become a real challenge to the credibility of all humanitarian standards and values and a violation of the most basic rules of international humanitarian law and human rights,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

It warned that these “crimes” and disregard for the lives of innocent civilians “has become a threat to regional and international peace and security.”

Egypt called on all international actors “to avoid double standards and to fulfill their humanitarian and moral responsibilities to immediately stop this humanitarian catastrophe.”

It called for intensifying efforts “to restore hope to the Palestinian people in self-determination and regaining their freedom.”

Israel has systematically targeted civilian facilities, including schools, hospitals, and places of worship, amid its ongoing offensive on the Gaza Strip despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

Under the rules of war, targeting such civilian facilities can constitute a war crime.

The Israeli onslaught has killed more than 41,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured nearly 95,000 others, according to local health authorities.

An ongoing blockade of the enclave has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine, leaving much of the region in ruins.

Israel faces accusations of genocide for its actions in Gaza at the International Court of Justice.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala