Tel al-Sultan massacre | |
---|---|
Part of the Rafah offensive and the refugee camp airstrikes in the Israel–Hamas war | |
Location | Kuwaiti Peace Camp I, Tel al-Sultan, Rafah, Gaza Strip |
Coordinates | 31°18′32.32″N34°14′35.17″E / 31.3089778°N 34.2431028°E |
Date | 26 May 2024 ~20:45 (UTC+02:00) |
Attack type | Airstrikes, massacre |
Deaths | 45–50 Palestinians [1] [2] [lower-alpha 1] 2 Hamas officials [4] (per Israel) |
Injured | 200+ |
Perpetrators | Israeli Air Force |
On 26 May 2024, the Israeli Air Force struck Tel al-Sultan, Rafah, setting fire to a displacement camp. The attack killed between 45 and 50 Palestinians, including women and children, and injured over 200. It was the deadliest incident of the Rafah offensive. [5]
When Israel invaded Rafah and ordered the evacuation of its east, some citizens fled to western neighborhoods like Tel Al-Sultan seeking safety. [2] One week before the bombing, Israel had designated the neighborhood as a "safe zone" and dropped leaflets instructing Palestinians to move there. [6] [7] [8] Two days before the attack, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to halt its offensive under the Genocide Convention, [9] [10] but Israel interpreted the order differently and continued its operations. [11]
On the night of the incident, Israel struck the neighborhood with two U.S. made GBU-39 missiles. [12] The strike ignited a fire in the "Kuwaiti Peace" tent camp, trapping and burning the civilians residing in it. [13] Israel claimed the strike targeted a Hamas compound near the camp, accidentally causing the fire. However, independent investigations showed that the camp was struck itself and that there was no evidence of secondary explosions. [14] [15]
Images of the attack spread internationally, with them being described as "some of the worst" of the war. [16] The attack received widespread condemnation, with some groups calling it a war crime and a massacre. [4]
After evacuation orders were issued by Israel during the Israel-Hamas war, many areas of Gaza became depopulated, with refugees primarily traveling to Rafah. Rafah became dense and overcrowded, with over 1.4 million civilians sheltering in the area. [17] However, when Israel invaded the city, it ordered the eastern neighborhoods evacuated as well. An estimated 950,000 civilians fled, going to other parts of southern Gaza designated as safe, including western Rafah. [18] [2]
Two days before the attack, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to prevent genocidal actions in Rafah. [19] The order was widely interpreted as obliging Israel to stop the Rafah offensive, and the European Union said Israel was violating the order by continuing. [11] [20] However, Israel interpreted the order as merely to comply with international law, not necessarily stop the offensive. [11] The Euro-Med Monitor reported that in the 48 hours since the order was issued, Israel had launched over 60 airstrikes in the city. [21]
The attack was noted to come shortly after Hamas launched rockets at Tel Aviv for the first time in months. The IDF said eight rockets were fired from the Rafah area and were intercepted. [22]
Many sources reported that the area that Israel attacked had previously been designated by Israel as a "safe zone". [23] [6] CBC News showed pictures of Israeli leaflets that read: [7]
For your safety, the Israeli Defence Force is asking you to leave these areas immediately and to go to known shelters in Deir el Balah or the humanitarian area in Tel al-Sultan through Beach Road. And don't blame us after we warned you. [7]
NPR reported that Israeli leaflets urging civilians to evacuate to Tel al-Sultan had been dropped one week before the bombing. [24] Witnesses speaking to Agence France Press confirmed they only came to Tel al-Sultan on instructions from IDF leaflets. [25] Abed Mohammed Al-Attar, whose family would later be killed in the attack, said the Israeli forces had told residents that this area was a safe zone. [23]
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) stated that the location had been designated by Israel as a "humanitarian area" and it was not included in areas that Israel's military ordered evacuated earlier this month. [26] [27]
On the night of 26 May, Israeli fighter jets reportedly struck the "Kuwaiti Peace" tent camp in Tel al-Sultan. [28] The camp was noted to be 200 metres (660 ft) from the largest UNRWA humanitarian aid storage warehouse in the Gaza Strip. [29] [30] [8] Multiple people were killed and injured in the initial explosion. [31] Witnesses reported "a deadly hail of shrapnel, then the sound of screaming". [31] A dead woman was later found with shrapnel in her lungs and heart. [31]
A witness said that he heard an explosion, walked out of his house, and saw smoke in a nearby street. [3] Survivors of the attack said it "burned people alive" and destroyed an entire block. [4] The Palestine Red Crescent Society said civilians were trapped in the flames. A video verified by NBC News showed Palestinians screaming for help in tents "engulfed by flames" with civil defense crews attempting to stop the fire and rescue people. Other videos displayed burnt corpses, including one of a decapitated child. [13] Paramedics later retrieved these bodies. [32] [33] The attack was described as a massacre by some media outlets. [lower-alpha 2]
Israel stated it had targeted a Hamas compound and killed two senior Hamas commanders: the West Bank Chief of Staff Yassin Rabia and senior official Khaled Nagar, "in accordance with international law". [4] John Kirby stated that Hamas confirmed the deaths of the two commanders. [47] However, witnesses speaking to Mondoweiss and CNN said that no militants were found in the camp. [48] [49]
The Gaza Health Ministry (GHM), stated the attack killed at least 45 people, and ActionAid UK said it killed 50. [1] [2] The GHM said that among the fatalities were at least 12 women, eight children, and three elderly. [50] Doctors Without Borders said that dozens of civilians were injured, [51] with the GHM eventually confirming 65 injuries. [52] It later raised the number of injuries to over 200. [22]
Victims of the attack were rushed to the Emirati Hospital, [53] but the GHM said that Rafah hospitals didn't have enough resources to deal with the number of injured people. [22] The only hospital in Rafah had eight beds and no ICU. [54]
The attack drew multiple independent investigations and analyses from media outlets [31] and military analysts. [55] [56] Israel also investigated the incident, saying it was a 'tragic mishap'. [57]
Israel said the target of the attack was a "Hamas compound" and two senior Hamas militants, whom it identified as Yassin Rabia and Khaled Nagar. [58] On 3 June, an IDF investigation claimed that the military believed "there were no civilians" in the area of the strike. [59] Earlier, the IDF released surveillance footage that showed civilians near the structure. In response, a military analyst questioned if Israel knew there were civilians nearby and accepted them as collateral damage. [60]
Satellite image analysis by India Today located the site of the airstrike to "Kuwait Peace Camp", leading the newspaper to conclude "satellite images show Israel targeting Rafah refugee camps". [15] The Washington Post analyzed satellite imagery and found "more than a dozen tent-like structures" around the tin structures targeted. [61] The Guardian located the attack to the "edge of rows of tents" of the Kuwaiti camp, and quoted a resident who said this location was "a medical point surrounded by a lot of tents, in an area with more than 4,000 people". [31] A New York Times investigation concluded that Israel directly struck the camp, saying the metal structures targeted were part of the camp and intended for civilian use. [14] Israeli newspaper Haaretz stated the IDF struck a "dense" area. [59]
Al Jazeera's fact checking agency concluded the strike deliberately targeted the camp sheltering civilians. [62] The Palestinian Authority, [63] Egypt, [64] witnesses [62] and multiple humanitarian groups also said Israel deliberately targeted the refugee camp. [65] [66]
Israel claimed that the strike took place outside of the "al-Mawasi humanitarian zone", [67] which was confirmed by a Forensic Architecture analysis. However, it noted that the strike location was within the previous borders of the zone, and that the IDF did not effectively communicate this change to refugees. [68]
Israel said two missiles equipped with 17 kilograms (37 lb) of explosives were used in the strikes. Analyses of video footage by The New York Times and CNN showed that the munition was a variant on the US-made guided GBU-39 bomb (sometimes called a missile), [60] though the exact variant was unclear. [69]
Israel stated the use of precision munitions was as an effort to minimize civilian casualties, however, other military experts doubted this. [60] USAF sergeant Wes J. Bryant, who has experience with GBU-39, characterized the Israeli strike as "negligent". [60] Bryant said GBU-39 should not have been used given that civilians were in the "effects radius" of the airstrike; and that GBU-39 should generally not be used near civilian encampments. [70] Trevor Ball, a United States Army explosives technician, said the bombs' fragments can travel up to 600 meters, concluding "so that just doesn’t check out if they’re trying to limit casualties". [55]
Mark Cancian, a Marine Corps Reserves colonel, said the large debris field indicated the bombs appear to be programmed to detonate in the air before impact. [55] This decision by the IDF would ensure that the targets were killed but it would also maximize area damage and risk unintended deaths. [55]
The cause of the fire is unclear. The IDF said the fire was "unexpected", [71] adding "our munition alone could not have ignited a fire." [56] Frederic Gras, a French munitions analyst, questioned this statement, arguing "any explosion starts a fire as soon as flammable products are in the vicinity." [56] Likewise, a U.S. Army bomb diffusing expert said "a bomb of any size" can start a fire, as explosives release a lot of heat that can cause materials found in camps to catch on fire. [72] Multiple sources pointed out that refugee camps are typically full of flammable and explosive objects, such as cooking gas canisters that could have been ignited by the airstrike. [31] [73] [74] [71] Turkish Special Forces officer Abdullah Agar said Israel should have known that the GBU-39 can easily cause fire in a camp full of flammable materials like clothes and tarpaulin tents. [75]
On May 27, Israeli officials initially told their American counterparts that shrapnel from their airstrike ignited a nearby fuel tank, creating a large fire. [76] The same day, an Israeli reporter said the explosion was caused by a "Hamas jeep loaded with weapons". [77] Later, the IDF suggested that a militant warehouse containing ammunition or "some other material" in the area caused the fire. It also released an Arabic phone call, supposedly made by Hamas, in which they clearly say that the Israeli missile was not responsible for the fire, that the fire was caused by secondary explosions, and the secondary explosions came from an ammunition warehouse. [78] However, James Cavanaugh, who worked at the ATF, said the fire did not indicate “some giant stash that exploded.” [71] A New York Times analysis of numerous videos also concluded no significant secondary explosion was ignited. [14]
Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad condemned the attack, labeling it a massacre and calling for the Palestinian people to "rise up and march" against Israel. [4] A spokesperson for the Presidency of the Palestinian Authority condemned the incident, calling it a massacre [79] and called for an intervention. [80] [81] A survivor of the attack stated, "They told us that this area is safe... but now there is no safe place in Gaza. There are massacres everywhere." [82] A lawyer with the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights stated the attack showed Israel was ignoring the International Court of Justice's interim orders. [83]
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the incident was a "tragic mistake". [84] The Israeli military said the attack was "under review", [51] while its top military prosecutor Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi called the incident "very grave". [85]
Some Israelis celebrated the attack, likening it to the Jewish holiday Lag BaOmer, in which bonfires are lit to commemorate a second century Rabbi. The analogy was made by Israel's Channel 14 senior journalist Yinon Magal, who posted on X pictures captioned: "The main lighting of the year in Rafah;" and by i24NEWS' Naveh Dromi commenting "Happy Holiday." Both posts were later removed. The comparison was also made by far-right rapper Yoav Eliasi posted videos on Telegram in celebration of the attack and likened it to the holiday. Israeli social media users also shared memes and jokes about the attack. while others condemns on Magal's and Dromi's offensive tweet [86] [87] [88]
Spain, Ireland, and Norway condemned the attack and urged Israel to halt the offensive in a joint statement.
A British doctor in Rafah said that videos of the attack were "truly some of the worst that I have seen". [16]
Following the attack, several aid organisations in this part of the city were forced to close their operations and move them to other parts of the Gaza Strip, including the Al Quds field hospital run by the Palestine Red Crescent Society, a clinic supported by Doctors Without Borders and kitchens run by the World Central Kitchen. [121] [122] [123]
The Popular Resistance Committees is a coalition of a number of armed Palestinian groups opposed to what they regard as the conciliatory approach of the Palestinian Authority and Fatah towards Israel.
Events in 2023 in the Palestinian territories.
An armed conflict between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups has been taking place chiefly in the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023. The fifth war of the Gaza–Israel conflict since 2008, it has been the deadliest for Palestinians in the entire Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and the most significant military engagement in the region since the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
From 9 October 2023, as part of the Israel–Hamas war, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has conducted airstrikes in Jabalia refugee camp, claiming it was a stronghold for Hamas and other militant groups.
During the Israel–Hamas war, the Israeli military ordered most residents of Gaza to evacuate their homes, displacing hundreds of thousands of people and contributing to a broader humanitarian crisis in the territory. It is the largest displacement of Palestinians in 75 years. 90 percent of Gaza's population has been displaced at least once since October 2023. Palestinians have described the evacuation as the "second Nakba."
On October 31, 2023, Israel bombed the Jabalia refugee camp in the Gaza Strip – an event that was called the Jabalia camp massacre in the Muslim world.
In the Israel–Hamas war, as part of the bombing and invasion of Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has conducted numerous airstrikes in densely populated Palestinian refugee camps in both the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
Since the outbreak of the Israel–Hamas war on 7 October 2023, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has conducted numerous airstrikes on more than 200 educational facilities, including universities, in the Gaza Strip. The IDF claims such airstrikes are the result of the placement of military infrastructure and rocket launching from civilian areas, including schools. By late March 2024, the United Nations recorded more than 200 Israeli attacks on schools in Gaza, with at least 53 schools totally destroyed. In June 2024, UNOCHA stated 76 percent of Gaza's schools required "full reconstruction or major rehabilitation".
Events of the year 2024 in Israel.
Events in 2024 in the Palestinian territories.
The following is a list of events during the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in 2024, including the 2024 events of the Israel–Hamas war.
On 6 May 2024, Israel began a military offensive in and around the city of Rafah as part of its invasion of the Gaza Strip during the Israel–Hamas war.
Before the Rafah offensive, Israel conducted airstrikes and threatened to invade the city as part of its invasion of the Gaza Strip during the Israel–Hamas war which began with the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. Intentions to invade were declared in February, meeting backlash from the international community because of the estimated 1.4 million refugees sheltering in the city.
This timeline of the Israel–Hamas war covers the period from the start of the Rafah offensive to the present day.
On 28 May 2024, Gaza emergency services reported that four tank artillery shells struck a tent city in the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone west of Rafah, hitting a group of tents and killing at least 21 people, at least 12 of whom were women, and injuring 64 people, including 10 in a critical condition. The strike occurred in an area designated as an expanded humanitarian zone by Israel in the wake of the Rafah offensive which has led to the mass displacement of Palestinian civilians to tent cities outside of the city.
On 6 June 2024, the Israel Defense Forces fired two missiles at Al-Sardi, a UNRWA school in the Nuseirat refugee camp. Though the complex had not been used as a school since the outbreak of the war, UNRWA said approximately 6,000 people were using it for shelter.
On 21 June 2024, Israeli forces attacked refugee tent camps in al-Mawasi, Gaza Strip just outside an area designated as a humanitarian safe zone. The Gaza Health Ministry reported that 25 people were killed and 50 others were injured in the two rounds of bombing. The bombing was the second Israeli bombardment of the al-Mawasi refugee camp in under a month, with an attack on 28 May killing over 21 people and injuring 64 more.
The al-Awda School massacre was an Israeli attack on a UNRWA-ran Palestinian school in Abasan al-Kabira near the city of Khan Yunis that was converted into a displacement shelter, occurring on 9 July 2024. At least 31 Palestinians were killed in the attack, most of whom were women and children, while over 53 were injured. Many of the victims were refugees from Rafah following Israel's Rafah offensive. The attack was the fourth attack on a Palestinian school conducted by the Israel Defense Forces over the prior four days.
On 13 July 2024, Israeli airstrikes hit the Al-Mawasi area of the Gaza Strip. Israel said that the strike was an attempt to assassinate the military commander of Hamas, Mohammed Deif, as well as Rafa Salama. As of 14 July 2024, Israel was still investigating whether Deif had been killed, while Hamas said that Deif was still alive and called the airstrikes a "massacre". The Gaza Health Ministry reported that at least 90 Palestinians were killed, while at least another 300 were injured.
It was widely viewed as an unambiguous statement: The top United Nations court ordered Israel to immediately halt its military assault on Rafah
Israel struck again, dropping two 250-pound bombs on temporary structures in the camp.", "The Times investigation found that Israel bombed targets inside a camp that had existed for months, sheltering hundreds of people displaced by the war.", "One of the organizations that ran the facility, Al-Salam Association for Humanitarian and Charitable Works, confirmed that the structures were part of the camp.", "The Times has reviewed dozens of videos and has been unable to find any that suggest a significant secondary explosion."
They dropped leaflets asking us to go to the humanitarian zone in Tal al-Sultan, so we complied and came here," Abu Muhammad, who was displaced from north Gaza five months ago, told AFP.
"All those that were killed were civilians. No one was a fighter," he said.
"We did not find anything," he adds. "There was nothing that would require bombing. All we found were dismembered children, charred bodies, and scattered organs. We put them in blankets and took them out."
Palestinian witnesses and Al Jazeera's fact-checking agency Sanad said the camp sheltering civilians in Rafah's Tal as-Sultan area was deliberately targeted.
Egypt deplored what it called the "targeting of defenseless civilians"