By Qais Abu Samra
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - The Palestinian Foreign Ministry has condemned the "brutal massacre" carried out by the Israeli army in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza on Thursday.
“We condemn the savage massacre perpetrated by the occupation forces in Nuseirat camp, which led to the deaths and injuries of more than 150 Palestinians and caused massive destruction to buildings,” the ministry said in a statement on Friday.
It emphasized that this atrocity is “a direct result of the international community’s inaction and its failure to enforce its decisions and obligations.”
“This failure emboldens Israel to deepen its crimes and continue its systematic destruction of Gaza,” said the ministry.
It noted that ongoing destruction in northern Gaza, now expanding into Gaza City, aims to “destroy Palestinian life” in the enclave.
This, it said, is “unrelated to notions of self-defense or security but is instead aimed at erasing prospects for a Palestinian state and reducing the Palestinian cause to a humanitarian crisis requiring aid programs.”
The ministry called for an immediate cessation of Israeli aggression, the provision of international protection, and the implementation of relevant UN resolutions.
An Israeli airstrike on Thursday targeting the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip killed 33 Palestinians and injured 84 others, according to official sources.
Israel has launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 44,800 victims, mostly women and children, since an attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants last month for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on Gaza.
*Writing by Ikram Kouachi in Ankara