Israeli soldiers turn mosque in Gaza’s Rafah into ‘cooking place’

By Anadolu staff

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – Israeli soldiers have turned a mosque in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip into a cooking place, a video showed on Thursday.

The clip, circulated by an Israeli soldier on social media, showed the Muslim worship place being used by soldiers to serve meals.

It features large tables inside the mosque on which Israeli soldiers placed various types of food items.

A sticker affixed to a cardboard food box used by soldiers is also shown with a production date showing May 22, which is likely the time when the video was shot.

Israeli military vehicles also appear stationed inside the Rafah border crossing near the mosque.

Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 37,200 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and more than 84,900 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts 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, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its military 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