By Anadolu staff
JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli army claimed that the blowing up of a drinking water reservoir in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip was carried out without permission from a senior command, Israeli media reported on Monday.
The army “is conducting an investigation into a suspected violation of international law, following the explosion of a drinking water reservoir in Rafah by a force operating in the area,” the Israeli daily Haaretz said.
A force from the 401st Brigade of the Armored Corps “blew up the central reservoir last week on the orders of the brigade commanders—but without receiving permission from the senior level of the Southern Command,” the daily added.
One of the soldiers posted a video of the explosion on social media with the caption “Destruction of the Tel Sultan water reservoir in honor of Shabbat,” it noted.
Haaretz reported that at the end of the initial investigation, a decision will be made on whether to open an investigation by the Investigating Military Police.
The water reservoir, which was blown up using explosive devices, is located in the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood, most of which was not evacuated by the army, it added.
“The neighborhood, which is located in the northwest of Rafah, is near the humanitarian areas that the army has defined as safe to stay,” the media outlet alleged.
The Israeli military refused to comment, but military sources confirmed the details, it said.
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.
More than 39,300 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 90,800 injured, according to local health authorities.
Over nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.
Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.
* Writing by Mohammad Sio.