Israeli strike hits Rafah area after Hamas barrage
Kyiv • UNN
The Hamas-run Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip said dozens of people were killed or injured in an explosion in a refugee camp in the Rafah area.
The Hamas-run Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip said dozens of people were killed or injured in an explosion in a refugee camp in the Rafah area, UNN reports citing the BBC.
Details
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said it had carried out an air strike on a Hamas compound in the area. It said it was investigating the incident.
Earlier in the day, Hamas fired eight rockets from Rafah toward Tel Aviv, the first long-range attack on the city since January. The rocket fire came ahead of further ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas, which are expected to resume next week.
A video from the southern part of the Gaza Strip shows a large explosion and heavy fires.
Hamas said that the Israeli airstrike targeted a camp of displaced Palestinians northwest of Rafah, far from recent military operations in the designated humanitarian safe zone. Women and children are reported to be among the dead.
The IDF said it had struck Hamas militants in the area and indicated that it was aware of reports that the strike had started a fire that injured civilians. The IDF reviewed the incident but said it used precision weapons against legitimate targets.
In a statement, the IDF said it had "killed" two senior Hamas figures, Yassin Rabia Rabia and Khaled Nagar Nagar, in a "precision" air strike "in northwestern Rafah.
The Hamas-run Ministry of Health reported that 35 people were killed and dozens injured in the Israeli strike.
A representative of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, quoted by the Associated Press news agency, said that the death toll is likely to rise as search and rescue operations continue in the Tal al-Sultan neighborhood of Rafah, about 2 km northwest of the city center.
An eyewitness told the Reuters news agency that the entire neighborhood in Tal al-Sultan was "burned.
Addendum
Israel's military campaign in Gaza began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking another 252 hostages in Gaza.
According to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health, about 36,000 Palestinians have died in the war since then.
