Israeli tanks enter Rafah’s center as Security Council to discuss camp blaze

RAFAH

Israeli military sent its tanks into the center of Rafah for the first time in three-week ground operation 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 and was set to be discussed at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council from 1915 GMT.

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

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the strike a "tragic accident" but also vowed to push on with the military campaign to destroy Hamas over the Oct. 7 attack and bring home all the hostages.

Several news outlets reported that the tanks were spotted near a mosque in the central region of Rafah.

Israeli tanks were "stationed on the Al-Awda roundabout in the center of the city of Rafah," a witness said. A Palestinian security source confirmed tanks were in the center of Rafah. 

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 U.N. 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".

More than seven months into the bloodiest ever Gaza war, Israel has faced ever louder international opposition, as well as cases against the country and its leader before two international courts based in the Netherlands.

In a landmark political move on Tuesday, Spain as well as Ireland and Norway were to formally recognise Palestinian statehood, a step so far taken by over 140 U.N. members but few Western governments.

 'Hell on Earth' 

Israel launched its offensive on Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks that resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli official figures.

Hamas also took 252 hostages, 121 of whom remain in Gaza; among them 37 the army says are dead.

Israel's offensive has killed more than 36,000 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

The Sunday night attack that killed dozens in the displaced persons camp was targeting two senior Hamas members, the Israeli military said.

Israel's army said its aircraft "struck a Hamas compound" in the city and killed Yassin Rabia and Khaled Nagar, senior officials for the militant group in the occupied West Bank.

The strike came hours after Hamas had fired a barrage of rockets at the Tel Aviv area, most of which were intercepted.

The resulting civilian toll in Gaza prompted a wave of condemnation, with Palestinians and many Arab countries calling it a "massacre".

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 U.S. 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".

Adding to the already heightened tensions, both the Israeli and Egyptian militaries on Monday reported a "shooting incident" that killed one Egyptian guard in the border area between Egypt and the southern Gaza Strip.

Both forces said they were investigating.