For the third time since the genocide in Gaza began, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has called on Israel to cease its offensive in Rafah. Gaza’s southernmost city was invaded by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) earlier in May after months of being designated as a so-called “safe zone” for over a million forcibly displaced Palestinians.
On Sunday, May 26, Israel dropped at least eight missiles on a tent camp located near an UNRWA warehouse in Rafah in Tal as-Sultan area. The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that 45 Palestinians were killed in the attack and 249 individuals sustained injuries. Testimonies and videos of beheaded children and burned corpses quickly circulated on social media. One of the area's residents told Al Jazeera that “tents were melting and the people’s bodies [were] also melting.” Al Jazeera also reported that the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said that people were burned alive inside their tents.
The New York Times supported Netanyahu’s “tragic accident” excuse by supplying readers with unchallenged Israeli official statements declaring that airstrikes were precise in their target, showing “maps” that the strike was “outside a designated humanitarian zone.” On May 17, The Atlantic published an article suggesting that “it is possible to kill children legally.”
Less than 24 hours after the attack on the camp, a new round of airstrikes pounded a nearby tent city, Al-Mawasi. The most recent attack killed at least 21 Palestinians, while severely injuring dozens more.
The latest Israeli attacks in Rafah have prompted global condemnation from governments and organizations alike. The region of Walloon in Belgium announced it is no longer allowing Israel to transport weapons through its territory, which includes refueling planes carrying weapons en route to the apartheid state at the Liège airport. The U.S.-based Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention recently put forth a statement about the ongoing genocide in Gaza, stating that this is an undeniable case of genocide, in which the U.S. and other Western nations are complicit.
After the first tent massacre, the medical staff at Emirati Hospital in Rafah held a press conference, stating that the attacks were in clear retaliation to the ICJ ruling made days before.
Over the past 236 days, over 36,000 Palestinians have been murdered by Israel, with over 81,000 severe injuries, including amputations, blindness, and paralysis. Thousands more are missing, presumed dead under the rubble. Over 1.8 million Palestinians have been displaced, marking this to be the largest Palestinian exodus in history. Hospitals, bakeries, schools, aid distribution sites, and tents have all been targets of the IOF’s genocidal campaign. As Palestinians have been reiterating for the last eight months, there is no safe place in Gaza.
