IRIA News

At least 50 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded in an Israeli airstrike late on Sunday (May 26) on the southern Gaza city of Rafah that hit tents for displaced people and set the camps on fire, local medics said. The Israeli airstrikes came soon after Hamas launched rocket attacks towards Tel Aviv for the first time in months.

Videos and photos from the scene shared on social media platforms showed heavy destruction and flames, including horrifying images of people burnt alive. Children were among the victims, according to local reports.

Palestinian Red Crescent Society spokesperson said the death toll was likely to increase as search and rescue efforts continued in Rafah’s Tal al-Sultan neighborhood.

Israeli aircraft have shelled several tents in this area, resulting in numerous martyrs and casualties. Many have been transported to the Tal Al-Sultan clinic and the field hospitals near the sea in Rafah. Currently, numerous individuals remain trapped under the flames and in the…

— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) May 26, 2024

The airstrikes were conducted on a location designated by Israel as a “humanitarian area.” Israel continues its military operations in Rafah despite a ruling by the International Court of Justice ordering Israel to immediately stop its bombardment and ground assault on Rafah. 

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had targeted Hamas militants in the area using precision weapons and said it was aware of reports the strike had ignited a fire that harmed civilians.

The Israeli military carried out more than 60 air raids on Rafah in the 48 hours after the top UN Court’s orders to halt military operations in the southern Gaza city, according to the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor.

UN decries Rafah attack

Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the UN special rapporteur on the right to housing, has called for urgent action against Israel in the wake of its latest attack. “Attacking women and children while they cower in their shelters in Rafah is a monstrous atrocity. We need concerted global action to stop Israel’s actions now,” he said in a post on X.

Attacking women and children while they cower in their shelters in Rafah is a monstrous atrocity. We need concerted global action to stop Israel’s actions now. https://t.co/gUYVFePprW

— UN Special Rapporteur on the right to housing (@adequatehousing) May 27, 2024

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territory, described Israel’s attack on the tent camp in Rafah as “more horror”. She said that “This cruelty, along with blatant defiance of the international law and system, is unacceptable.”

Aid groups ‘horrified’ by Israeli strike on camp

Aid groups say they are “horrified” by an Israeli strike on tents housing displaced people in the southern city of Rafah that has left at least 35 people dead.

The aid group Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said dozens of dead and injured people were brought to a trauma stabilization supported by the group. More than 15 bodies and dozens of injured people were brought to a center supported by the MSF, it said on X.

The United Nations Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, said that reports coming out of Rafah about further attacks on families seeking shelter in southern Gaza were “horrifying”. UNRWA wrote on X: “There are reports of mass casualties including children and women among those killed. Gaza is hell on earth. Images from last night are yet another testament to that.”

Information coming out of #Rafah about further attacks on families seeking shelter is horrifying.

There are reports of mass causalities including children and women among those killed.

Gaza is hell on earth. Images from last night are yet another testament to that.

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) May 27, 2024

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the Israeli attack on Tal al-Sultan as a “massacre that exceeds all boundaries”, according to the Wafa news agency.

Hamas launches rockets at Tel Aviv

Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a significant rocket attack on the Tel Aviv area in central Israel on May 26, 2024. This marks the first such attack on central Israel by Hamas in almost four months and coincides with ongoing Israeli military operations in Rafah despite UN court rulings.

At least eight rockets were fired from southern Gaza, with the Israeli military confirming interceptions. The sudden attack by Hamas comes at a time when a degree of normality has returned to Tel Aviv – the economic center of Israel, since it was last attacked in January. Sirens also sounded in other Israeli cities and towns, including Herzliya and Petah Tikva. Israeli emergency services said they had received no reports of casualties.

Israeli media released videos that showed missile fragments found in a garden in Herzliya. Additionally, footage showed apparent shrapnel damage to a bedroom within a house. Another video displayed a sizable crater, presumably caused by a rocket, in an open area near the central town of Kfar Saba.

Hamas armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, have launched a barrage of missiles from southern Gaza towards Tel Aviv for the first time in months.

Israel says its Iron Dome air defence system intercepted most of the rockets. pic.twitter.com/Qg5Jrshltf

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) May 26, 2024

In a statement on its Telegram channel, the Hamas al-Qassam Brigades said the rockets were launched in response to “Zionist massacres against civilians”. Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV said the missiles were launched from the Gaza Strip. It did not confirm the attack was launched from Rafah, where fighting has been reported near the Kuwaiti Hospital.

Israel initiated its offensive in the southern Gaza city approximately three weeks ago, pledging to eliminate what it claimed were the remaining Hamas battalions in the area. According to the UN, over 800,000 Palestinians have fled the southern city, with about 1.5 million seeking refuge from the conflict elsewhere in Gaza.

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry reports at least 35,800 Palestinian fatalities since the onset of the war. With the recent attack, Hamas may seek to demonstrate its strength ahead of anticipated negotiations slated to begin on Tuesday to resolve the conflict, or it may aim to disrupt them.

According to Palestinian sources, a recent Israeli airstrike on a residential home in central Rafah resulted in at least one fatality and several injuries. Many of the wounded were reportedly transported to the Kuwaiti Hospital.

Truce talks

Efforts to reach a ceasefire and secure the release of over 100 hostages held in Gaza have faced obstacles for weeks. However, there are indications of progress following meetings between Israeli and U.S. intelligence officials and Qatar’s prime minister. An official with insights into the matter disclosed that talks would resume this week based on new proposals from Egyptian and Qatari mediators, with active U.S. involvement. However, Hamas sources have downplayed the reports, denying their accuracy. Izzat El-Reshiq, a senior Hamas figure in exile, stated that Hamas had not received any new dates for talks as reported by Israeli media.

Reshiq reiterated Hamas’s demands, emphasizing the complete and permanent cessation of aggression throughout Gaza, not solely in Rafah. While Israel aims to secure the release of hostages, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has consistently stated that the conflict will persist until Hamas is eradicated.

Aid trucks enter Gaza

Separately on Sunday, Israel permitted approximately 200 aid trucks to enter Gaza from Egypt through the Kerem Shalom crossing at the southeastern edge of the Palestinian enclave. This route bypasses the main Rafah crossing, which has been closed for weeks.

The decision follows an agreement between U.S. President Joe Biden and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Friday to allow temporary aid shipments through the crossing. Khaled Zayed, an official from the Egyptian Red Crescent, informed Reuters that 200 aid trucks, including four fuel trucks, were expected to enter Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing on Sunday.

Egypt’s state-affiliated Al Qahera News shared a video on the social media platform, showing aid trucks entering Kerem Shalom, which previously served as the primary commercial crossing between Israel, Egypt, and Gaza before the conflict. The Rafah crossing has remained closed for nearly three weeks, since Israel assumed control of the Palestinian side of the crossing while intensifying its offensive in the area on May 6.

بدء دخول شاحنات المساعدات إلى قطاع غزة عبر معبر كرم أبو سالم #تضامنا_مع_فلسطين#من_غزة_هنا_القاهرة#القاهرة_الإخبارية pic.twitter.com/YXX87p1KpB

— القاهرة الإخبارية – AlQahera News (@Alqaheranewstv) May 26, 2024

Egypt has expressed growing concern about the potential influx of Palestinians from Gaza into its territory and has declined to open its side of the Rafah crossing. Israel has stated that it is not obstructing aid flows and has opened new crossing points in the north while collaborating with the United States, which has established a temporary floating pier for aid deliveries.