Israel again bombs Rafah; Guterres says ‘this horror must stop’

Rafah, Palestinian Territories – AFP

Israel again bombarded Gaza’s far-southern Rafah area on Tuesday despite a global storm of outrage over a strike that set ablaze a crowded tent city, killing 45 people according to Palestinian officials.

The strike, which Gaza medics said also left hundreds of civilians with shrapnel and burn wounds, drew condemnation from world leaders.

The sight of the charred carnage, blackened corpses and children being rushed to hospitals led UN chief Antonio Guterres to declare that “there is no safe place in Gaza. This horror must stop.”

More air strikes and shelling rained down overnight on besieged Gaza — including Rafah’s Tal Al-Sultan area where the displacement camp went up in flames near a facility of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.

“The situation is very dangerous,” said one resident, Faten Jouda, 30. “We didn’t sleep all night. There was random bombing from all directions, including artillery shelling and air bombardment as well as firing from aircraft.

“We saw everyone fleeing again,” she told AFP. “We too will go now and head to Al-Mawasi because we fear for our lives,” she said, referring to a nearby coastal area Israel has declared a safe “humanitarian zone”.

– ‘Hell on Earth’ –

Israel has killed at least 36,050 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the local health ministry.

Philippe Lazzarini, head of UNRWA, said on Monday that “the images from last night are testament to how Rafah has turned into hell on Earth”.

The EU’s foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell said he was “horrified” and French President Emmanuel Macron said he was “outraged”.

A US National Security Council spokesperson said Israel “must take every precaution possible to protect civilians”.

China voiced “its grave concern over the ongoing Israeli military operations in Rafah”.