Israel slammed over Rafah strikes
Israel's military said it had launched an investigation into the incident, which was trenchantly criticised by several nations and organisations.
Smoke rises above buildings during an early morning Israeli strike on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on 11 May 2024. Picture: AFP
RAFAH - Global condemnation poured in Monday over an Israeli strike that Gaza officials said killed 45 people in a camp housing displaced Palestinians.
Israel's military said it had launched an investigation into the incident, which was trenchantly criticised by several nations and organisations.
UNITED NATIONS
The UN Middle East envoy Tor Wennesland urged Israel to "conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into this incident, hold those responsible for any wrongdoing to account, and take immediate steps to better protect civilians".
- European Union -
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he was "horrified by news coming out of Rafah on Israeli strikes killing dozens of displaced persons, including small children", adding: "I condemn this in the strongest terms".
AFRICAN UNION
"With horrific overnight air strikes killing mostly Palestinian women & children... the State of Israel continues to violate international law with impunity and in contempt of an ICJ (International Court of Justice) ruling two days ago ordering an end to its military action in Rafah," AU Commission head Moussa Faki Mahamat said on X.
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"The ICJ order must be urgently enforced if global order is to prevail," he added.
FRANCE
"These operations must stop. There are no safe areas in Rafah for Palestinian civilians," President Emmanuel Macron said on X in English.
"I call for full respect for international law and an immediate ceasefire."
TURKEY
"We will do everything possible to hold these barbarians and murderers accountable who have nothing to do with humanity," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
EGYPT
The Egyptian foreign ministry deplored the "tragic event" and denounced the "targeting of defenceless civilians" and "a systematic policy aimed at widening the scope of death and destruction in the Gaza Strip to make it uninhabitable".
It called on Israel to "implement the measures ordered by the International Court of Justice concerning an immediate cessation of military operations" in Rafah.
The ministry condemned the strike as "a new flagrant violation of the provisions of international humanitarian law".