‘People burned alive’ in attack on Rafah; ‘IDF regrets any harm to non-combatants’ – Day 233

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‘People burned alive’ in attack on Rafah; ‘IDF regrets any harm to non-combatants’ – Day 233
Fire rages following an Israeli strike on a tent camp for displaced Palestinian in Rafah, southern Gaza, where at least 45 were killed, reportedly mostly women and children. (photo)

Devastation in Rafah as Israel claims it followed int’l law (while using 2,000-pound bombs); strikes continue all over Gaza; raids all over West Bank; report on Israel’s use of US-made 2,000-pound bombs that even the Biden administration had opposed

By IAK staff, from reports.

The attack:

At least 45 Gazan civilians killed, others injured in Israeli shelling of displaced persons’ tents in Rafah:

At least 45 Palestinians, including at least 23 women, children and elderly people, were killed in an Israeli attack on a camp for those displaced from the southern city of Rafah, the Gaza health ministry said on Monday.

Local sources reported that occupation forces targeted, with at least eight missiles, the tents of people sheltering in a displacement camp that was recently established near the warehouses of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), northwest of Rafah.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) confirmed that the people who were inside the tents, mostly children and women, were burnt alive.

The targeted area, which is crowded with thousands of displaced persons, was previously declared as a safe zone by the occupation.

Video from the site showed scenes of horror: charred bodies being pulled from rubble, a man holding the headless body of a child, fire raging from tents in the background.

“We saw charred bodies and dismembered limbs … We also saw cases of amputations, wounded children, women and the elderly,” Mohammad al-Mughayyir, a Gaza civil defense agency official told AFP.

One of the Gazan victims of the airstrike was a pregnant woman.

The only hospital in Rafah has only eight beds and does not have an ICU unit, [so] the hospitals are not capable of treating all of these severe injuries.

There are a couple of field hospitals in Rafah, but unfortunately, there is no fuel for ambulances to go back and forth and transfer all of the people injured.

In the midst of medics frantically trying to help the injured and shroud the dead, reports of an Israeli drone strike on the hospital’s entrance emerged, stating that two staff members were killed.

The attack on Rafah was carried out using seven 2,000-pound (one-ton) bombs.

The Palestinian Gov’t Media Office regarded the attacks as a “clear message” from Israel and the United States government to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the global community that “the massacres against displaced persons and children will continue, and that breaking international law will not stop”.

NOTE: The Biden administration recently withheld a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs from Israel, out of concern that they might be used against Rafah. Within a week, he sent $1 billion in “smaller” weaponry. (See below for more on 2,000-pound bombs.) 

Israel kills dozens of Palestinians sheltering at a displacement camp in Rafah:

More headlines from Gaza:

More raids on Rafah neighborhoods after attack on displacement camp.
Israeli bombing kills, wounds several in Gaza City.
Israeli shelling kills Palestinian woman and injures others in Khan Younis.
Israeli airstrike kills one, injures several others in Rafah.
Israeli bombing kills 13 Palestinian civilians in Gaza’s Jabaliya.
Israeli bombing kills 3 in Nuseirat camp, injures others.
Communications blackout as Israeli attacks Deir el-Balah’s only telecom division.
Israeli bombing kills 4 west of Gaza Monday.
Due to fuel shortage, water distribution in Gaza drops by 87%: MSF.
Patients in Gaza hospitals at risk amid shortage of fuel
Famine imminent in northern Gaza amid Israel’s closure of crossings, media office warns.
New war crimes complaint submitted to the ICC regarding Israel’s ongoing assault on journalists in Gaza.
Euro-Med: After ICJ order to halt attacks on Rafah, Israel launched over 60 air raids on the city in 48 hours.
Palestinians at the scene of an Israeli attack in Rafah, Gaza, on May 27.
Palestinians at the scene of an Israeli attack in Rafah, Gaza, on May 27, where at least 45 were killed, reportedly mostly women and children. (photo)

Israel’s spin:

Israeli government spokesperson Avi Hyman said, “Last night the IDF targeted two Hamas commanders in Rafah whose hands were drenched in Israeli blood,” adding, “according to initial reports a fire broke out after the attack which appears to have taken civilian lives.”

It said the attacks were conducted “in accordance with international law, using precise munitions, and based on preliminary intelligence indicating the use of the area by Hamas terrorists”.

“An IDF aircraft struck a Hamas compound in Rafah in which significant Hamas terrorists were operating. The strike was carried out against legitimate targets under international law, using precise munitions and on the basis of precise intelligence that indicated Hamas’ use of the area,” the military said.

The IDF claims it not only destroyed the alleged missile launch site in Rafah, but also hit a Hamas compound in Rafah “where key terrorists of the organization were staying.”

“The IDF is aware of reports indicating that as a result of the strike and fire that was ignited several civilians in the area were harmed. The incident is under review.”

“The IDF regrets any harm to non-combatants during the war.”

Reuters reports: Israel considers that an order by the World Court to halt its military offensive on Rafah in southern Gaza allows room for some military action there, Israeli officials said.

“What they are asking us, is not to commit genocide in Rafah. We did not commit genocide and we will not commit genocide,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, told Israel’s N12 TV on Saturday.

“We have never, and we will not, conduct any military action in Rafah or elsewhere which may inflict any conditions of life to bring about the destruction of the civilian population in Gaza, not in whole and not in part,” the official said.

NOTE: Israel consistently claims it is upholding international law – but the facts as reported by human rights organizations and judged by international bodies do not match these claims.
South Africa accused Israel of genocide, and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled by an overwhelming majority, that there was a “plausible” case for genocide. Numerous experts and human rights organizations have joined in declaring Israel’s actions against Gaza (and the West Bank) to be genocide, while the US government is nearly alone in denying it. American mainstream media have tried to hide this from readers.
Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp area housing internally displaced people in Rafah, Gaza, on May 27
Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp area housing internally displaced people in Rafah, Gaza, on May 27 (photo)

US response to attack:

A spokesperson from the White House National Security Council stated that the U.S. is “aware of reports on an Israeli strike in Rafah and is gathering more information on the matter.”
Israel explains why it attacked Rafah:

The Israeli army has said eight rockets were launched from the Rafah area in southern Gaza at central Israel. Israel’s air defense system intercepted several of them, the army said.

The rocket strikes caused minor injuries to two Israelis.

Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan said it was the first rocket attack on the Tel Aviv region in six months.

According to police, the roof of a home in Herzliya was damaged by shrapnel following a rocket barrage over central Israel. A woman who was inside the home was lightly injured while trying to move to safety.

An Israeli police officer stands next to the remains of a rocket after rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, in Herzliya, Israel, Sunday, May 26
An Israeli police officer stands next to the remains of a rocket after rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, in Herzliya, Israel, Sunday, May 26. (The piece of shrapnel is small enough to fit in a kitchen trash bag.) (photo)

West Bank headlines:

Palestinian teenager killed by Israeli army’s live fire south of Hebron.
Extremist Israeli minister Ben-Gvir storms Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem.
Israeli forces raid Nablus, Bethlehem, Jenin, Yatta, Husan, Madama.
Israeli soldiers during a military raid on Tubas in the occupied West Bank in March 2024
Israeli soldiers during a military raid on Tubas in the occupied West Bank in March 2024 (photo)

Headlines from Israel:

Israeli military dismisses reservist who called for mutiny in Gaza video.

An Israeli reservist who called for mutiny in a video recorded from Gaza was interrogated by military police today and has been dismissed from service, according to the military.

It said the investigation into the unnamed individual is ongoing, and that findings will be presented to military authorities for review. Israeli Army Radio said the reservist has been freed.

Read about this story here.

Israeli soldiers on their tanks near the border fence with the Gaza Strip, March 10, 2024.
Israeli soldiers on their tanks near the border fence with the Gaza Strip, March 10, 2024. (photo)

Knesset’s Ministerial Committee for Legislation approves draft bills against UNRWA.

WAFA reports: The Israeli Knesset’s so-called Ministerial Committee for Legislation today approved draft bills that aim to sever relations between Israel and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), and designate it as a ‘terrorist organization’.

The Israeli parliament (Knesset), will vote in the first reading on the bill on Wednesday.

The Knesset’s move comes after most Western countries reinstated funding for UNRWA after Israel failed to prove its severe allegations against the UN relief agency.

Palestinians examine the damage to the UNRWA buildings in Gaza City.
Palestinians examine the damage to the UNRWA buildings in Gaza City. (Omar Ishaq/picture alliance/Getty Image)

More on the bombs used on Rafah:

Why the US paused the delivery of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel ahead of a possible Rafah attack.

On May 8, 2024, Associated Press reported: The U.S. is pausing a shipment of 1,800 of the bombs, as well as 1,700 500-pound bombs, U.S. officials said. The decision comes as Israel is planning an assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah in an attempt to root out the final elements of Hamas.

With more than 1 million refugees sheltering in Rafah, U.S. officials are concerned the bombs could inflict massive casualties. Human rights groups have long said that Israel’s use of powerful bombs has caused the indiscriminate killings of civilians.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told a Senate panel Wednesday that smaller, more precise weapons are needed for a densely populated area like Rafah.

The bombs are “dumb” or unguided bombs but can be turned into more precise weapons with the addition of Joint Direct Attack Munition kits, or JDAM kits which add a tail fin and navigation.

That added kit enables troops to guide the munition to a target, rather than simply dropping it from a fighter jet onto the ground. The kits make the weapons more precise, but in a densely populated urban environment, a JDAM kit is not going to make much of a difference — a precise hit will still have the reach to kill unintended bystanders.

The Israeli military has said little about what kinds of bombs and artillery it is using in Gaza. But from blast fragments found on-site and analyses of strike footage, experts are confident that the vast majority of bombs dropped on the besieged enclave are U.S.-made. They say the 2,000-pound bombs have killed hundreds in densely populated areas.

The 2,000- and 500-pound bombs are some of the main munitions used by Israel in its seven-month war campaign, Bryant said.

“They have been burning right through them,” said Bryant. He said the munitions are made by major American weapons manufacturers like Raytheon, Northrop, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and General Atomics.

At the hearing, Austin questioned whether the 2,000-pound bomb was the right tool for the Rafah operation.

“It’s about having the right kinds of weapons for the task at hand. And a small diameter bomb, which is a precision weapon, that’s very useful in a dense, built-up environment,” said Austin, “but maybe not so much a 2,000-pound bomb that could create a lot of collateral damage.” He said the U.S. wants to see Israel do “more precise” operations.

Notwithstanding this aborted shipment, within a week, the Washington Post reports, the Biden administration announced its plan to move forward with more than $1 billion in weapons deals for Israel.

This arms deal reportedly allows for the potential transfer of $700 million in tank ammunition, $500 million in tactical vehicles and $60 million in mortar rounds.

A man sits on debris as Palestinians conduct a search and rescue operation in Jabalya refugee camp in Gaza City, on November 1. 2,000-pound bombs, mostly manufactured by the US, can cause high casualty events and can have a lethal fragmentation radius – an area of exposure to injury or death around the target – of up to 365 meters (about 1,198 feet), or the equivalent of 58 soccer fields in area.
2,000-pound bombs, mostly manufactured by the US, can cause high casualty events and can have a lethal fragmentation radius – an area of exposure to injury or death around the target – of up to 365 meters (about 1,198 feet), or the equivalent of 58 soccer fields in area. (Pictured: A man sits on debris as Palestinians conduct a search and rescue operation in Jabaliya refugee camp in Gaza City, on November 1, 2023.) (photo)

MORE NEWS:

Al Jazeera: Remembering Palestinian journalist Amna Homaid.
Palestine Chronicle: Horror on the Road to Gaza – Why Jewish Settlers Attack Palestinian Trucks.
Middle East Monitor: Israeli Genocide in Palestine Ongoing for 76 Years, Says Mandela’s Grandson.
The New Arab: Amnesty Int’l seeks war crimes probe into three Israel strikes in Gaza.
IMEMC Reports.

STATISTICS OCTOBER 7 – MAY 26:

Palestinian death toll from October 7 – May 26: at least 36,567* (36,050 in Gaza* – 4,959 women (20%), 7,797 children (32%). This is expected to be a significant undercount since thousands of those hilled have yet to be identified – and at least 517 in the West Bank (~117 children). This does not include an estimated 10,000 more still buried under rubble (4,900 women and children). Euro-Med Monitor reports 43,640 Palestinian deaths. (Ralph Nader has estimated 200,000 Palestinians may have been killed in Gaza.)

At least 42 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons (27 from Gaza, 14 from West Bank).

At least 31 Palestinian children and several adults have died due to malnutrition**.

About 1.7 million, or 75% of Gaza’s population are currently displaced.

About 1.1 million (out of total population of 2.3 million) are facing Catastrophic levels of food insecurity.

Palestinian injuries from October 7 – May 26: at least 86,066 (including at least 81,026 in Gaza and 5,040 in the West Bank).

It remains unknown how many Americans are among the casualties in Gaza.

Reported Israeli death toll from October 7 – May 26: ~1,440 (~1,139 on October 7, 2023, of which ~32 were Americans, and ~36 were children); 285 military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza; 16 in the West Bank) and~8,730 injured.

Times of Israel reports: The IDF also listed 41 soldiers killed due to friendly fire in Gaza and other military-related accidents – nearly 16%.

NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries in Israel on October 7 were caused by Israeli soldiers.

*Previously, IAK did not include 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital blast since the source of the projectile was being disputed. However, given that much evidence points to Israel as the culprit, Israel had previously bombed the hospital and has attacked many others, Israel is prohibiting outside experts from investigating the scene, and since the UN and other agencies are including the deaths from the attack in their cumulative totals, if Americans knew is now also doing so.

**Euro-Med Monitor reports that Gaza’s elderly are dying at an alarmingly high rate. The majority die at home and are buried either close to their residences or in makeshift graves dispersed across the Strip. There are currently more than 140 such cemeteries. Additionally, according to Euromed, thousands have died from starvation, malnourishment, and inadequate medical care; these are considered indirect victims as they were not registered in hospitals. 

Find previous daily casualty figures and daily news updates here.

Hover over each bar for exact numbers.
Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org

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