ISRAELI tanks have taken control of central Rafah after a “tragic” airstrike that reportedly left dozens dead and hundreds injured.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to persevere Israel's campaign to eradicate Hamas and bringing all the hostages home as a million civilians fled the war-ravaged Palestinian city.
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Palestinian officials estimate there are forty-five people died after an Israeli attack set fire to a crowded camp in Rafah on Sunday.
The attack, described by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu as a “tragic accident”, also left hundreds of civilians with shrapnel and burns, according to Gaza medics, and was heavily criticized by world leaders.
Israel then launched the attack Hamas fired a barrage of rockets at Tel Aviv most of which were intercepted.
The deadly attack was intended to wipe out two senior Hamas members, the Israeli military said.
The Israeli plane “struck a Hamas complex” and killed senior Hamas officials Yassin Rabia and Khaled Nagar, according to the army.
Israeli tanks gathered today at the Al-Awda roundabout in the center of Rafah, witnesses told the media.
A Palestinian security source confirmed that tanks had been spotted in the city center for the first time.
An additional brigade has been sent by the Israeli army to Rafah, where troops continue to locate tunnels and weapons and kill Hamas operatives, the Israeli army said.
The Israeli army said dozens of terror groups' sites – including observation posts and weapons depots – have been destroyed during its operations in Jabaliya in northern Gaza.
Netanyahu remains steadfast in his pledge to destroy Hamas and bring home all the hostages his militants have dragged into Gaza. October 7.
Hamas sparked the ongoing war in Gaza when its brutal members slaughtered 1,170 people, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures, and took 252 hostages to the besieged enclave.
More than 120 hostages remain in Gaza, including 37 who the Israeli army says are dead.
More than 36,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Hamas-led Israeli reprisals against Hamas. health ministry.
Persistent air strikes and shelling rained on the enclave overnight, including in Rafah's Tal Al-Sultan area, where the camp went up in flames near a UN facility for Palestinian refugees.
Resident Faten Jouda, 30, told AFP: “The situation is very dangerous.
“We didn't do that sleep the whole night. There was indiscriminate bombing from all directions, including artillery bombardments and aerial bombardments, as well as shooting from aircraft.
“We saw everyone flee again. We are now also going to Al-Mawasi because we fear for our lives.”
Israel has declared the small nearby fishing village of Al-Mawasi a safe 'humanitarian zone'.
One million civilians have fled Rafah since Israel launched its attack on the city earlier this month – amid bombings, limited access to food and water, piles of rubbish and shocking living conditions, the UN said.
Netanyahu is facing louder than ever international opposition, including Ireland, Norway and… Spain today recognized the State of Palestine in a historic political step taken by only a few Western governments.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said on national television that “recognition of the State of Palestine is not only a matter of historical justice… it is also an essential requirement if we all want to achieve peace.”
He added: “It is the only way to make progress towards the solution that we all recognize as the only possible way to achieve a peaceful future: that of a Palestinian state in peace and security lives side by side with the State of Israel.”
Israel condemned the move as a reward for the Hamas movement, and the country's Foreign Minister Israel Katz told Sanchez via X: “You are a partner in inciting genocide against the Jewish people.”
He compared Spanish minister Yolanda Diaz Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Hamas Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar, after calling for a free Palestine “from the river to the sea”.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said the governments of Spain, Ireland and Norway would provide a “calm but determined” coordinated response to Israel's angry reaction.
EU foreign affairs chief Joseph Borrell said he was “shocked” by the attack on Rafah and the French president Emmanuel Macron “indignant”.
A spokesperson for the US National Security Council, meanwhile, said Israel must “take every precaution to protect civilians.”
Israel's response to the deadly camp attack
By means of Jessica Baker
In its aftermath, Israel was condemned worldwide his airstrike on a refugee camp in RafahPalestinian officials estimate that 45 people were killed.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attack had gone tragically wrong, but the war in Gaza would nevertheless continue.
He said on Monday: 'Despite our best efforts not to harm those uninvolved, unfortunately a tragic mistake happened last night.
“We are investigating the matter.”
In a Hebrew speech to the Israeli Knesset, the prime minister added that Israel will not “surrender” or “end the war until all its objectives have been achieved.”
He said: “The pressure exerted at home and abroad on the Israeli government, which is fighting with all its might to return the hostages, only hardens the positions of (Hamas leader Yahya) Sinwar, who is demanding conditions from Israel about surrender endangering its survival. , and therefore we cannot agree to it.
“I would like to make it clear: I am not ready to surrender and withdraw. I am not ready to end the war until all objectives are achieved.”
According to the government media office in Gaza, the strike injured about 200 people and left 45 dead.
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