Deadly Israeli strike on Rafah was a "tragic error," Netanyahu says (2024)

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Sunday's deadly Israeli airstrike on a Rafah camp had gone tragically wrong.

At least 45 people were killed and 200 wounded after the Israeli strike hit a camp for displaced people, according to the government media office in Gaza.

The Israeli military’s General Staff's Fact-Finding and Assessment Mechanism is investigating an airstrike carried out in Rafah on Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statementonMonday.

This post has been updated after additional review of the translation from Hebrew to English, to clarify the wording used by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he referred to a deadly Israeli strike on Rafah, Gaza. The word 'error' was originally translated as 'mistake'.

The United Nation's High Commissioner for Human RightsVolker Türk has decried Israel's "horrific" strike on a camp housing displaced people in Rafah on Sunday.

"The images from the camp are horrific and point to no apparent change in the methods and means of warfare used by Israel that have already led to so many civilian deaths," Türk said in a statement Monday.

Türk echoed remarks given by his UN colleague, United Nations Relief and Works Agencyfor Palestine Refugees(UNRWA) spokesperson Juliette Touma to CNN earlier Monday, highlighting how the strike shows "there is literally no safe place in Gaza.”

Despite noting the Israeli military's plans to carry out a review into the strike, Türk called it "shockingly clear" that the decision to strike an area "densely packed with civilians" resulted in the "entirely predictable outcome" of at least 45 deaths.

The top UN official called on Israel to abide by the order from the International Court of Justice last week and halt its ground offensive in Rafah entirely.He also urged Palestinian armed groups to stop firing rockets indiscriminately into Israel "in clear violation of international humanitarian law" and release all of the hostages held in Gaza "at once."

European Council President Charles Michel on Monday also called the strikes “horrendous” and urged Israel to stop its offensive in Rafah.

“Horrendous to see innocent Palestinian civilians killed in the recent attack. There is no safe zone for the internally displaced in Rafah,” Michel said on X.

At a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels, Turkey has argued that recognition of a Palestinian state should not be contingent on negotiations with Israel, according to a Turkish diplomatic source.

Delaying recognition “only buys more time for Israel,” the source told CNN.

Turkey also pressed for sustainable financing for the Palestinian Authority, the source said, adding that Israel is freezing Palestinian revenues as a method of exerting pressure.

CNN has asked the Israeli government for comment on those claims.

Turkey also criticized the low level of international aid, saying: “What is being done under the name of aid to Palestinians is similar to keeping a tortured person barely alive with an IV.”

An Israeli strike in Rafah that left dozens of civilians dead is "heartbreaking," a National Security Council spokesperson said on Monday, adding the US was "actively engaging" with officials in Israel to determine what precisely happened.

The official added that the US is actively engaged with Israel Defense Forces on the ground "to assess what happened,and understand that the IDF is conducting an investigation."

Here's what we know: At least 45 people were killed and 200 were wounded in anIsraeli strikeon a camp for displaced people inRafahon Sunday, according to Gazan authorities. The Israeli military claimed it struck a Hamas compound in the area,killing two senior officialsfrom the militant group.

Remember: The US has repeatedly warned Israel against a large-scale ground invasion of Rafah without a plan to protect the million-plus civilians who are sheltering there.

Speaking following a visit to Israel last week, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said he had detected “refinements” to Israel’s plan, which he said was now more “targeted and limited” in scale.

US President Joe Biden has said he would not provide heavy bombs to Israel in support of a Rafah operation, but has recently approved a $1 billion military aid package that includes tank ammunition and mortar rounds.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it is investigating the airstrike that killed dozens of people in Rafah on Sunday, according to Gazan authorities.

In a statement Monday, the IDF said its General Staff's Fact-Finding and Assessment Mechanism had launched an investigation into the "circ*mstances of the deaths of civilians in the area of the strike."

The mechanism is an independent body responsible for examining allegations of misconduct in conflict. Military Advocate General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi ordered the investigation to be carried out, the IDF said.

Some background: At least 45 people were killed and 200 wounded after the strike hit a camp for displaced people, according the government media office in Gaza.

The IDF said the attack was conducted based on “prior intelligence” indicating that senior officials of Hamas’s West Bank wing were present at the site, and that it had assessed there would be "no expected harm to civilians."

Palestinians with disabilities in Gaza fear they will be killed first because of limited opportunities to flee due to their impairment, the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons and Disabilities (CRPD) said in a release on Monday.

Among the examples cited was that of a 14-year-old girl with cerebral palsy who had lost her assistive devices, including a wheelchair, and had to be carried by her parents while fleeing from the north of Gaza to the south amid Israel's offensive.

At one point, the girl told her family: "Leave me here, and you run away," the committee said. The girl survived but is at risk of being displaced again, it added.

The CPRD called for an immediate ceasefire and underscored the obligation to the Convention on the Rights of Persons and Disabilities, which calls for all necessary measures to ensure the protection and safety of people with disabilities in situations of risk, including in armed conflict.

CNN has previously reported on the struggles of disabled Palestinians in Gaza. Read more here.

Egypt’s military spokesperson said a person was killed during a shooting incident Monday on the border between Egypt and Gaza. Israel’s military also acknowledged that a “shooting incident” had occurred.

The Egyptian statement did not identify the person killed, or whether the person belonged to the Egyptian military. Instead, it described the person as “one of the personnel in charge of security.”

The spokesperson, Colonel Gharib Abdel-Hafez, said the Egyptian military is conducting an investigation into the incident.

Separately, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the incident had taken place “a few hours ago” and is now under review. “Discussions are being held with the Egyptians,” the IDF said in a statement.

Some background: The relationship between Egypt and Israel became tense after Israeli troops moved into an area known as the Philadelphi Corridor and took control of the Rafah crossing earlier this month. The Philadelphi Corridor is a 14-kilometer (about 8.7-mile) long and 100-meter-wide strip of land running along the border between Gaza and Egypt.

Hours after Israel’s airstrike on a displacement camp in Rafah, smoke is seen rising above the site with torn up cars and charred belongings scattered on the destroyed pavement.

Dozens of residents, including children gathered around the camp, sifted through blackened clothes, blankets and mattresses to recover whatever is salvageable. CNN video from the scene shows people walking over what used to be their shelter and appear to bein shock over the destruction.

Ranin Miqdad, who was living in the camp, told CNNthatIsraeli forces did not warn residents before they struck the area during what she called a “terrifying night."

"People flew away here and there, we needed flashlights to find the remains of little children," she added.

Ranin said residents who survived the attack are now trying to leave the camp out of fear. Others, like her, don’t have the means to go anywhere, and have nowhere to go, she said.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he was "outraged" overIsrael's strike on a camp for displaced people in Rafah on Sunday, which Gazan authorities say killed at least45 people.

"I call for full respect for international law and an immediate ceasefire," Macron added.

The strikes happened days after Macron welcomed the Foreign Ministers of Qatar, Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia in Paris for talks on the situation in Gaza.