Israeli military says it used small munitions in Rafah airstrike and fire was caused by secondary explosion

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli military says initial investigation into strike that sparked deadly attack weekend fire in a tent camp in the south Gaza city ​​of Rafah discovered that the fire was caused by a secondary explosion.

A military official, speaking on condition of anonymity pending an official announcement, said Tuesday that the army fired two 17-kilogram (37-pound) munitions that targeted two high-ranking Hamas militants. The official said the munitions would have been too small to start a fire on their own and that the military was investigating the possibility that weapons had been stored in the area.

Palestinian health officials say at least 45 people, about half of them women and children, were killed in Sunday’s strike. The fire could also have ignited fuel, cooking gas canisters or other materials in the densely populated camp housing displaced people.

The strike sparked widespread outrage, including from some of Israel’s closest allies. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was the result of a “tragic accident.”

New strikes in the same district of Tel al-Sultan, west of Rafah, which was hit on Sunday, killed at least 16 Palestinians, the Palestinian Civil Defense and the Palestinian Red Crescent announced on Tuesday. Residents reported an escalation of fighting in the southern Gaza city, once considered the territory’s last refuge.

An Israeli incursion launched in early May pushed nearly a million people to flee Rafah, most of whom had already been displaced in the war between Israel and Hamas. They are now seeking refuge in squalid tent camps and other war-ravaged areas.

The United States and other allies of Israel have warned of a full-scale offensive in the city, with the Biden administration saying it would cross a red line and refusal to supply offensive weapons for such an enterprise. Friday, the International Court of Justice called on Israel to end its offensive on Rafahan order he has no power to execute.

Netanyahu pledged to move forward, saying Israeli forces must enter Rafah to dismantle Hamas and return captured hostages. the attack of October 7 who started the war.

Israel says it is carrying out limited operations in eastern Rafah, along the Gaza-Egypt border. But residents reported intense shelling overnight in Tel al-Sultan.

“It was a night of horror,” said Abdel-Rahman Abu Ismail, a Palestinian from Gaza City who has taken refuge in Tel al-Sultan since December. He said he heard “constant sounds” of explosions overnight and into Tuesday, with fighter jets and drones flying over the area.

He said it reminded him of the Israeli invasion of his Shijaiyah neighborhood in Gaza City, where Israel launched an intensive bombing campaign before sending in ground forces in late 2023. “We’ve seen this before,” did he declare.

Sayed al-Masri, a resident of Rafah, said many families were forced to flee their homes and shelters, most heading to the crowded Muwasi area, where camps of giant tents were set up on a coast arid, or towards Khan Younis, a southern city who suffered heavy damage during months of fighting.

“The situation is getting worse” in Rafah, al-Masri said.

Gaza’s health ministry said two medical facilities in Tel al-Sultan were out of service due to intense shelling nearby. Medical Aid for Palestinians, a charity operating across the territory, said the Tel al-Sultan medical center and Indonesian field hospital were on lockdown, with doctors, patients and displaced people trapped inside.

Most residents of Gaza hospitals no longer work. Kuwait’s Rafah hospital closed its doors on Monday after a strike near its entrance killed two health workers.

A World Health Organization spokesperson said victims of Sunday’s strikes and fires had “completely overwhelmed” the region’s field hospitals, which were already short of supplies to treat serious burns.

“It requires intensive care, it requires electricity, it requires high-level medical services,” Dr. Margaret Harris told reporters in Geneva. “More and more, we are having trouble getting highly qualified doctors and nurses because they have been displaced. »

The war began when Hamas and other militants stormed into southern Israel in a surprise attack on October 7, killing some 1,200 civilians and kidnapping about 250. More than 100 were freed during of a one-week ceasefire in November in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. .

Israel responded to the attack with a massive air, land and sea offensive that killed at least 36,096 Palestinians, according to Gaza Ministry of Health, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. About 80% of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been displaced, according to United Nations officials. certain parts of the territory are experiencing famine.

The fighting in Rafah has made it almost impossible for humanitarian groups to import and distribute aid to southern Gaza.

The Israeli military says it has allowed hundreds of trucks to enter through the nearby Kerem Shalom crossing since its operation began, but humanitarian groups say it is extremely difficult to access this aid from the Gaza side due to fights.

The UN says it has only been able to collect aid from around 170 trucks over the past three weeks through Kerem Shalom. Smaller amounts of aid enter through two passages to the north and by sea via a floating pier built in the United Statesbut we are far from the 600 trucks per day that humanitarian groups estimate are necessary.

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Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war