Gaza’s Hamas-led Health Ministry says dozens of people have been killed in a refugee camp.
Dozens of people were killed or injured in the explosion that hit a refugee camp in the Rafah region of the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday, May 26, according to the Hamas-administered Palestinian Territory’s Ministry of Health. .
Videos of the incident show a large explosion and heavy flames consuming the area.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had targeted two senior Hamas leaders in one of the group’s compounds and would look into reports that fire had spread to shelters, wounding civilians.
The attack came just hours after Hamas fired eight rockets from Rafah towards Tel Aviv – the first long-range strikes on the Israeli city since January.
In a statement released after the explosion in Gaza on Sunday night, the IDF said it had “eliminated” two senior Hamas figures – Yassin Rabia and Khaled Nagar – in a “precise” airstrike in northwestern Rafah .
The IDF added that it targeted Hamas militants with precision weapons.
Hamas authorities said 35 people were killed and dozens injured in a camp for Palestinian displaced people northwest of Rafah, far from recent military operations in a humanitarian zone designated as safe.
They said that among the dead were women and children.
The death toll is likely to rise as search and rescue operations progress in Rafah’s Tal al-Sultan neighborhood, about 2 km northwest of the city center, a Palestinian Red Crescent spokesman said, quoted by Associated Press news agency.
A witness told the Reuters news agency that the entire Tal Al-Sultan neighborhood had been “burnt down”.
Another witness, Fadi Dukhan, said he was sitting outside a house when he heard an explosion.
“Suddenly we heard the sound of a missile,” he told Reuters.
“We ran and found the street covered in smoke. We didn’t see anything.”
Upon entering a house, he added, there was no one there, but then he found “a girl and a boy torn to pieces.”
Early Sunday morning, air raid sirens sounded in the Tel Aviv region as central Israel came under attack by Hamas rockets fired from Rafah.
The eight rockets were intercepted by air defense systems or fell into the fields.
Israel continued with its military offensive in Rafah, despite the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday ordering the country to halt the attacks.
The rocket fire highlights the threat that Hamas continues to pose to the Israeli population, even if there are no reports of injuries.
It also illustrates the challenges the Israeli army faces as it advances into southern Gaza to expel Hamas from what it calls its “last great stronghold.”
Hamas’ military wing said it acted in response to the “massacre of civilians.”
The rocket attack came on the eve of new ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas, which are expected to resume next week.
Israel began its much-heralded offensive on Rafah about three weeks ago, vowing to destroy the remaining Hamas battalions.
Israeli hostages are also believed to be held in the city.
According to the United Nations (UN), more than 800,000 Palestinians have fled Rafah since the offensive began.
About 1.5 million people had taken refuge there from fighting in other parts of Gaza.
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza began after Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking 252 others hostage in Gaza.
Since then, nearly 36,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.
Source: Terra
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