Israeli airstrike kills 35 in Rafah

The Israeli military has confirmed that its air force attacked a Hamas base in Rafah and that the strike was carried out using “high-precision munitions based on precise intelligence”.

“The IDF has received information regarding reports that as a result of the airstrike and the fires that followed, several civilians in the area were injured. This incident is under investigation.”

Gaza health ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qidra said 35 people were killed and dozens more were injured in the attack, mostly women and children.

The airstrike occurred in the Tel Al-Sultan area west of Rafah, where thousands of people had taken shelter after many were evacuated from the eastern area where Israeli ground forces launched an operation more than two weeks ago.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said its field hospital in Rafah had seen a spike in deaths, and other hospitals had also seen large numbers of patients.

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri described the attack in Rafah as “a massacre”, blaming the US for providing weapons and financial aid to Israel.

“The airstrike set fire to the tents, burning them and the bodies of those inside,” said a local resident at the Kuwait hospital in Rafah.

On Sunday, the Israeli military said eight warheads had been detected moving from the Rafah area, the southernmost city where Israel launched its operation despite a ruling by the UN's top court ordering the force to halt its Rafah offensive on Friday.

The force said several warheads were intercepted. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a meeting of his war committee late Sunday to discuss the Rafah operation. Israel has argued that the UN court ruling has authorized certain military operations in the city.

In a statement on Telegram, Hamas’ al-Qassam Brigades said it had launched the rockets in response to “the massacre of civilians by the Zionists.” Rafah is about 100km south of Tel Aviv.

Israel said it wanted to kill Hamas militants holed up in Rafah and rescue hostages it said were being held there, but the airstrikes have worsened civilian casualties and sparked international outcry.

On Sunday, Israeli airstrikes killed at least five Palestinians in Rafah, according to local health services. Gaza's health ministry identified the dead as civilians.

Locals said Israeli tanks had been probing around Rafah, the border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, and had entered some areas south of the city, but had not entered Rafah in full force since the operation began there in early May.

Israel's War Committee chief Benny Gantz said the rocket fired from Rafah “is proof that (the Israel Defense Forces) need to launch an operation in every area where Hamas is still active.”

The office of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a statement that he had conducted an assessment of the operation in Rafah, and had received information about “the movement of forces above and below ground, as well as the deployment of operations to other areas with the aim of destroying Hamas battalions.”

Itamar Ben Gvir, a hard-liner and Minister of Public Security, has urged the Israeli military to attack Rafah more aggressively. On X, he posted an article with the words “full attack on Rafah”.

Photo: REUTERS/Reuters TV.

Nearly 36,000 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli operation, which began after Hamas militants attacked southern Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostage.

Fighting also continued in the Jabalia area of ​​northern Gaza, which saw bloody battles early in the Gaza war. In one raid, the Israeli military said it discovered a weapons storage facility at a school with dozens of missile parts and other weapons.

The force rejected Hamas's claim that Palestinian gunmen had kidnapped an Israeli soldier.

Hamas media reported that an Israeli airstrike on a residential area near Jabalia killed 10 people and injured many others.

Negotiations on a ceasefire

Efforts to broker a truce and release more than 120 hostages have been deadlocked for weeks, but there have been some signs of progress over the weekend following meetings between Israeli and US intelligence officials and Qatar's prime minister.

An official with knowledge of the matter said a decision was made to resume talks this week based on new proposals from Egyptian and Qatari intermediary negotiators, along with “proactive engagement from the US side.”

However, a Hamas official denied the report, asserting: “Those claims are incorrect.”

Netanyahu's office said Israel's war committee would discuss the new proposal.

Izzat El-Reshiq, a Hamas official, said the organization had not received any information from intermediary negotiators about the date for the continuation of talks as reported by Israeli media.

Reshiq reiterated Hamas' demands, including: "A complete and indefinite cessation of aggression, throughout the Gaza Strip, not just in Rafah."

While Israel is eager to free the hostages, Netanyahu has repeatedly insisted the war will not end until Hamas is destroyed.

Relief to Gaza

Israel has received repeated calls to allow more aid into Gaza after a seven-month war that has devastated the enclave and caused famine.

Khaled Zayed of the Egyptian Red Crescent said 200 trucks carrying aid, including four trucks carrying fuel, were expected to enter Gaza on Sunday through the Kerem Shalom border crossing.

The decision follows an agreement between US President Joe Biden and Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi on Friday to temporarily transport aid into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing, bypassing the Rafah crossing that has been blocked for weeks.

Egyptian state-run Al Qahera News TV shared a video on social media X, showing trucks carrying aid through Kerem Shalom, the main trade post between Israel, Egypt and Gaza before the war broke out in Gaza.

The Rafah checkpoint has been closed for nearly three weeks, since Israel took control of the Palestinian side of the checkpoint and stepped up its campaign there.

Egypt has become concerned about the possibility of large numbers of Palestinians flooding into its territory and has refused to open the Rafah checkpoint.

Israel has insisted that there are no limits on aid supplies and has opened new entry points in northern Gaza and coordinated with the United States, which has built a temporary dock to accommodate aid deliveries.

Nguyen Quang Minh (according to Reuters)

Source: https://www.nguoiduatin.vn/israel-khong-kich-khien-35-nguoi-thiet-mang-tai-rafah-a665476.html