NOS News • Today, 10:37 PM Netanyahu: Attack on Rafah tent camp 'tragic mistake', offensive continues
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has admitted that the army bears responsibility for the dozens of deaths in a tent camp in Rafah. In a speech in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, he called the incident a "tragic mistake", international media wrote.
It is still unclear to what extent the fire in the tent camp was caused by the Israeli air strike. Netanyahu reiterates that the incident is still being investigated, but already calls it a mistake. He emphasizes that the attack targeted two senior Hamas members. These two targets would have been eliminated.
'A tragedy' "Despite our utmost efforts to spare citizens, a tragic mistake happened last night," the AP news agency quoted the prime minister as saying. He says that the bottom stone will be uncovered, "because that is our policy". Netanyahu: “For us it is a tragedy, but for Hamas it is a strategy.” Israel keeps repeating that Hamas uses civilians as living shields.
At least 45 people have been killed in the fire at the camp for displaced Palestinians, according to Hamas-run Gaza authorities. The attack has been heavily condemned internationally. Israel is becoming increasingly isolated by ignoring the interim ruling of the International Court of Justice in The Hague. The ICJ has ordered Israel to halt the offensive.
Netanyahu insists he will continue until Hamas is defeated in Rafah. "I have no intention of stopping the war until all goals have been achieved. If we stop now, we will let terror win."
Rutte: horrible images The Netherlands is once again calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages. On X, Rutte and outgoing Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruins Slot speak of "horrible" images from Rafah. Rutte calls on Israel to implement the ruling of the International Court of Justice, which Israel emphatically does not intend to do.
Last night's airstrike took place in Tel As Sultan, a refugee camp on the northwest side of Rafah:
Early in the war, the Israeli army first ordered civilians to leave the north of the Gaza Strip, and later the city of Khan Younis in the south. Rafah, including Tel As Sultan, was then, according to Israel, a safe zone where people had to go. More than a million Palestinians then fled to Rafah, where they largely lived in tent camps.
Three weeks ago, the Israeli army called on civilians to evacuate East Rafah and expanded that area to more central parts of Rafah a week later. People had to leave for a new humanitarian zone along the coast. The location of yesterday's Israeli attack is not in this evacuation zone nor in the new humanitarian zone.
'Game changer' In March, Rutte said it would be a " gamechanger " if Israel invaded Rafah on a large scale. The weeks-long ground operation by the Israeli army in the southernmost city of Gaza has not yet led to "a political moment that will have consequences", as Rutte explained the game-changer moment. Israel and the US claim it is a "limited" offensive. Satellite images show extensive destruction in the area.
