At least 11 Palestinians were killed in what appeared to be an Israeli airstrike on a refugee camp in Rafah, the southernmost city of the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry.
Authorities announced Saturday that 50 more people were injured. This information could not be independently verified. The Israeli military initially did not comment on the incident.
Officials said some of the refugee tents in front of the United Arab Emirates Hospital in Tal Al Sultan area were attacked. Paramedics and hospital nurses were said to be among the injured.
Currently, around 1.5 million people are crowded into a small area in Rafah, on the border with Egypt. Most of them have fled the war from other parts of the blockaded coastal region. Most of them live in tents without proper sanitation or medical care.
Israel designated parts of Rafah, including Tal al-Sultan, as a safe zone as it called on Palestinian civilians to evacuate other parts of the Gaza Strip to avoid getting drawn into the fighting in the early stages of the war. Was.
Since the war began, 30,320 people have been killed and more than 71,500 injured in Gaza. It was sparked by an October 7 attack in which Hamas and other extremist groups killed 1,200 people in Israel and abducted about 240 more.
