UN chief strongly condemns Israeli forces attack on Palestinian camp

Agencies | Gaza City

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has issued a strong condemnation of the air strikes on Rafah, which struck tents housing displaced individuals on Sunday.

The statement, delivered by Stephane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, emphasised the Secretary-General’s dismay at the attack.

Guterres reiterated his demand for an immediate ceasefire and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

He recalls the recent orders of the International Court of Justice, which are binding and must be complied with.

France called for an immediate ceasefire in Rafah and called on the UN Security Council to fulfil its mandate and take immediate action.

Briefing reporters at the UN Security Council meeting, Nicolas de Rivière, Permanent Representative of France to the UN, said France pushed a lot at the meeting for an immediate ceasefire.

Algeria’s UN representative said the country will propose a draft UNSC resolution to stop the killing in Rafah.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden has no plans to change his Israel policy but is not turning a “blind eye” to the plight of Palestinian civilians, the White House said yesterday.

Gazan health authorities said 45 people were killed as a blaze tore through a camp for displaced people following the Sunday strike by Israel.

But Washington does not believe that Israel’s actions in Rafah amount to a full-scale operation that would breach Biden’s “red lines,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

Yesterday, a civil defence official in Hamas-run Gaza said an Israeli strike on a displacement camp west of Rafah yesterday killed at least 21 people, after a similar strike that sparked global outrage.

Israel denied carrying out the latest reported strike, which occurred ahead of a UN Security Council meeting to discuss a Sunday strike which Palestinian officials said killed 45 people.

Despite mounting concerns over the civilian toll of its war on Hamas, Israel has shown no signs of changing course and international efforts aimed at securing a ceasefire remain stalled.

In the latest bloodshed, Gaza civil defence agency official Mohammad al-Mughayyir said 21 people were killed in an “occupation strike targeting the tents of displaced people” in west Rafah.

Hamas said an Israeli strike on the area caused “dozens of martyrs and wounded”.

Israel’s army rejected the allegations, saying it “did not strike” the designated humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi.

Incursion In Rafah, residents and a Palestinian security source said Israeli tanks had now penetrated the heart of the southern city