Israel’s Netanyahu calls civilian deaths in Rafah ‘tragic mishap'

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday called the death of dozens of Palestinian civilians in an Israeli airstrike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip as a “tragic mishap.”

At least 45 people, mostly women and children, were killed and nearly 250 others injured in an Israeli strike on a camp for displaced people in Rafah on Sunday.

Speaking at the Knesset (Israel’s parliament), Netanyahu claimed that the civilian deaths occurred as Israeli forces targeted Hamas members in Rafah.

Sunday’s attack occurred near the logistics base of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) in Tal al-Sultan, according to Gaza’s government media office.

The Israeli army had previously identified the camp it bombed in Rafah as being “within the safe zones where displaced people were urged to head.”

The army claimed that the attack targeted a Hamas compound in Rafah.

The attack has triggered a wave of condemnations from around the world amid accusations for Israel of defying calls to halt its deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip.