After an Israeli strike on the Rafah relief camp, Palestinian sources report 21 deaths and 64 injured; an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council is scheduled.
A large number of people have been injured in an attack on a relief camp for Palestinian displaced persons after the Israeli army entered Rafah, located in the southern area of Gaza.
Shelling and explosions continue in the city
News agencies Reuters and AFP have quoted Palestinian officials as saying that 21 people have been killed in this blast. The Hamas-run Health Ministry says 64 people have been injured in the attack.
According to the report of the news agency ‘Wafa’, Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabil Abu Rudineh described today’s attack on Rafah as a ‘massacre’.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army has taken control of an important hill in Rafah city. This hill is considered important from a strategic point of view. The nearby border with Egypt is visible from here.
IDF statement
The scene of the incident after the blast can be seen in the footage coming on social media.
The Israeli Army says that it is investigating the possibility that the explosion in the relief camp was caused by an arms depot coming under air attack.
IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said that the two shells used in the attack were so small in size that they could not have caused such a large explosion on their own.
He has also said that the targets of the air strike were two senior Hamas commanders who were present outside the area which Israel has marked as a humanitarian area.
The United Nations Security Council is going to hold an emergency meeting on this issue soon.