On 26 May 2024, the Israeli Air Force bombed a displacement camp in Tel al-Sultan, Rafah. The attack, which set the camp on fire, killed between 45 and 50 Palestinians and injured more than 200. Sometimes referred to as the Rafah tent massacre or as the Tent Massacre, (Arabic: مجزرة الخيم, romanized: Majzarat al-khiyam) it was the deadliest incident of the Rafah offensive.
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| Tel al-Sultan attack | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Rafah offensive and the refugee camp airstrikes in the Israel–Hamas war | |
 The ensuing fire at the tent camp | |
  Tel al-Sultan Location within the Gaza Strip | |
| Location | Kuwaiti Peace Camp I, Tel al-Sultan, Rafah, Gaza Strip |
| Coordinates | 31°18′32.32″N 34°14′35.17″E |
| Date | 26 May 2024 ~20:45 (UTC+02:00) |
Attack type | Airstrikes |
| Deaths | 45–50 Palestinians[1][2][a] 2 Hamas officials[5] (per Israel, U.S.) |
| Injured | 200+ |
| Perpetrators |  Israeli Air Force |
When Israel invaded Rafah and ordered the evacuation of its east, some citizens fled to other parts of the city, like Tel al-Sultan, seeking safety. One week before the bombing, Israel had designated the neighborhood as a "safe zone" and dropped leaflets instructing Palestinians to move there. Two days before the attack, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to halt its offensive, but Israel interpreted the order differently and continued its operations.
On the night of the attack, Israel struck the neighborhood with two U.S. made GBU-39 glide bombs. The bombs ignited a fire in the "Kuwaiti Peace" tent camp; many civilians were trapped and burned alive.[6] Israel claimed it attacked a "Hamas compound", killed two commanders, and the fire was unexpected. However, videos and satellite images showed the location of the airstrike was inside the refugee camp itself, and many sources said Israel deliberately targeted civilians. Military analysts stated that bombs used by Israel have a large effect radius, and therefore should not have been used in a densely populated civilian area.
Images of the attack spread internationally, with them being described as "some of the worst" of the war. The attack received widespread condemnation, with some groups calling it a war crime and a massacre.
Background
After evacuation orders were issued by Israel during the Israel-Hamas war, many areas of Gaza became depopulated, with refugees primarily traveling to Rafah. Rafah became dense and overcrowded, with over 1.4 million civilians sheltering in the area.[7] However, when Israel first invaded the city, it ordered the eastern neighborhoods evacuated. An estimated 950,000 civilians fled, going to other parts of southern Gaza designated as safe, including parts of Rafah.[2][8][9]
Two days before the attack, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to halt the Rafah offensive.[10][11][12] However, Israel interpreted the order as merely to comply with international law, not necessarily stop the offensive, and continued.[11] The Euro-Med Monitor reported that in the 48 hours since the order was issued, Israel had launched over 60 airstrikes in the city.[13]
The attack came shortly after Hamas launched rockets at Tel Aviv, the first time in months. The IDF said eight rockets were fired from the Rafah area, though were intercepted.[14]
Designation as a "safe zone"
Many sources reported that the area that Israel attacked had previously been designated by Israel as a "safe zone".[15][16] CBC News showed pictures of Israeli leaflets that read:[17]
For your safety, the Israeli Defence Force is asking you to leave these areas immediately and to go to known shelters in Deir el Balah or the humanitarian area in Tel al-Sultan through Beach Road. And don't blame us after we warned you.[17]
NPR reported that Israeli leaflets urging civilians to evacuate to Tel al-Sultan had been dropped one week before the bombing.[18] Witnesses speaking to Agence France Press confirmed they only came to Tel al-Sultan on instructions from IDF leaflets.[19] Abed Mohammed Al-Attar, whose family would later be killed in the attack, said the Israeli forces had told residents that this area was a safe zone.[15]
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society stated that the location had been designated by Israel as a "humanitarian area" and it was not included in areas that Israel's military ordered evacuated earlier this month.[20][21]
In addition to being designated as a safe zone, there was a question of whether the attack also fell inside the "al-Mawasi humanitarian zone" as announced by Israel. Under the original boundaries, as announced by Israel on December 6, 2023, the attack happened inside al-Mawasi humanitarian zone.[22] However, on May 6, Israel changed the boundaries of this zone, and if using these new boundaries, the attack took place outside the humanitarian zone, a fact that was emphasized by the IDF on May 27.[23] But Forensic Architecture states that the May 6 change was not effectively communicated to Gazans, including those who had already sought refuge there.[22] Indeed satellite imagery confirms that new tents continued to be built in this area from May 6 to May 26, indicating Palestinian civilians were unaware tht Israel had changed the definition of al-Mawasi.[22]
Attack
On the night of 26 May, Israeli fighter jets struck the "Kuwaiti Peace" tent camp in Tel al-Sultan.[24] The camp was noted to be 200 metres (660 ft) from the largest UNRWA humanitarian aid storage warehouse in the Gaza Strip.[25][26][27] Multiple people were killed and injured in the initial explosion.[28] Witnesses reported "a deadly hail of shrapnel, then the sound of screaming".[28] A dead woman was later found with shrapnel in her lungs and heart.[28]
A witness said that he heard an explosion, walked out of his house, and saw smoke in a nearby street.[4] Survivors of the attack said it "burned people alive" and destroyed an entire block.[5] The Palestine Red Crescent Society said civilians were trapped in the flames. A video verified by NBC News showed Palestinians screaming for help in tents "engulfed by flames" with civil defense crews attempting to stop the fire and rescue people. Other videos displayed burnt corpses, including one of a decapitated child. Paramedics later retrieved these bodies.[29][30]
It was the deadliest incident of the Rafah offensive.[31] The attack was described as a massacre by multiple media outlets,[32][33] some of whom referred to it as the Rafah tent massacre[b] or the Tent Massacre.[37][38][39][c]
Israel stated it had targeted a Hamas compound and killed two senior Hamas commanders: the West Bank Chief of Staff Yassin Rabia and senior official Khaled Nagar, "in accordance with international law".[5] John Kirby stated that Hamas confirmed the deaths of the two commanders.[40] However, witnesses speaking to Mondoweiss and CNN said that no militants were found in the camp.[41][42]
Casualties
The Gaza Health Ministry (GHM), stated the attack killed at least 45 people, and ActionAid UK said it killed 50.[1][2] The GHM said that among the fatalities were at least 12 women, eight children, and three elderly.[3] Doctors Without Borders said that dozens of civilians were injured,[43] with the GHM eventually confirming 65 injuries.[44] It later raised the number of injuries to over 200.[14]
Victims of the attack were rushed to the Emirati Hospital,[45] but the GHM said that Rafah hospitals didn't have enough resources to deal with the number of injured people.[14] The only hospital in Rafah had eight beds and no intensive care units.[46]
Analysis and investigation
The attack drew multiple independent investigations and analyses from media outlets[28] and military analysts.[47][48]
Egypt, the Palestinian authority and other investigations concluded that Israel deliberately targeted civilians in the attack.[49][50] Israel also investigated the incident, saying it was a "tragic mistake".[51] A panel of UN experts said Israel bears responsibility for its actions and calling it a "mistake" after the fact does not make the attack legal.[52] The experts said the Israeli attack was both indiscriminate and disproportionate.[52]
Target of the attack
Israel said the target of the attack was a "Hamas compound" with two senior Hamas officials, whom it identified as Yassin Rabia and Khaled Nagar.[53] The IDF said they believed "there were no civilians" in the compound.[54] Earlier IDF had released surveillance footage that showed four people standing outside the structure the IDF said they targeted, raising questions on whether they knew of civilians nearby and accepted them as collateral damage.[55] Israeli newspaper Haaretz stated the IDF struck a "dense" area.[54]
Satellite image analysis by India Today located the site of the airstrike to "Kuwait Peace Camp", leading the newspaper to conclude "satellite images show Israel targeting Rafah refugee camps".[56] The Washington Post analyzed satellite imagery and found "more than a dozen tent-like structures" around the tin structures targeted.[57] The Guardian located the attack to the "edge of rows of tents" of the Kuwaiti camp, and quoted a resident who said this location was "a medical point surrounded by a lot of tents, in an area with more than 4,000 people".[28] A New York Times investigation concluded that Israel directly struck the camp, saying the metal structures targeted were part of the camp and intended for civilian use.[58] In June, NBC News said that analysis of the attack and interviews with survivors indicated that Israeli commanders should have known there were civilians in the area of the strike.[59]
Al Jazeera's fact checking agency concluded the strike deliberately targeted the camp.[49] The Palestinian Authority,[50] Egypt,[60] witnesses[49] and multiple humanitarian groups also said Israel deliberately targeted the refugee camp.[61][62]
Munitions used
Analyses of video footage by The New York Times and CNN showed that the munition was a variant on the US-made precision guided GBU-39 bomb (sometimes called a missile),[55] though the exact variant was unclear.[63] The GBU-39 is a 250 pounds (110 kg) bomb with an explosive weight of of 17 kilograms (37 lb).[64] Israel said it fired two missiles equipped with 17 kilograms (37 lb) of explosives each.
Mark Cancian, a Marine Corps Reserves colonel, said the large debris field indicated the bombs appear to be programmed to detonate in the air before impact.[47] This decision by the IDF would increase the probability that the targets were killed but it would also maximize area damage and risk unintended deaths.[47]
Israel stated the use of precision munitions was as an effort to minimize civilian casualties, however, other military experts doubted this.[55] The 250-lb GBU-39 produces less collateral damage than the 2,000 lb bombs Israel had been previously using in the bombing of the Gaza Strip.[64] The Biden administration had pushed Israel away from using 2,000 lbs and towards using more 250-lb precision ones.[64] But even smaller and precision-guided munitions like GBU-39 can inflict "severe civilian casualties" if used improperly.[64] The blast from a GBU-39 can kill or injure anyone in a 1,000 feet (300 m) radius,[65] and shrapnel from the bomb shell travel as far as 2,000 feet (610 m).[47]
USAF sergeant Wes J. Bryant, who has experience using the GBU-39, said munition is not meant to be near civilian encampments and the US military would not have used the bomb given that civilians were in the "effects radius".[66] The fact that Israel used it in a densely populated civilian area indicated "either an unwillingness or inability to effectively safeguard civilians".[55] Trevor Ball, a United States Army explosives technician, said the bombs' fragments can travel up to 600 meters, concluding "so that just doesn’t check out if they’re trying to limit casualties".[47]
Amnesty International stated that, given the large kill radius of the GBU-39 bomb, its usage in a densely populated civilian area constituted an indiscriminate attack, and therefore should be investigated as a war crime.[67]
Fire
Many of those killed were burned alive by the fire that ensured.[6] An investigation by Amnesty International's experts determined the likely cause of the fire was cooking fuel stored in the tent camp.[67]
The IDF said the fire was "unexpected",[68] adding "[o]ur munition alone could not have ignited a fire of this size."[48] Frederic Gras, a French munitions analyst, questioned this reasoning, arguing "any explosion starts a fire as soon as flammable products are in the vicinity."[48] Likewise, a U.S. Army bomb diffusing expert said "a bomb of any size" can start a fire, as explosives release a lot of heat that can cause materials found in camps to catch on fire.[69] Multiple sources pointed out that refugee camps typically contain flammable material, such as cooking gas canisters which could have been ignited by the airstrike.[28][68]
On May 27, Israeli officials initially told their American counterparts that they believed the fire was caused by shrapnel from the strike igniting a nearby fuel tank.[70][71] The same day, an unnamed Gazan narrator said the explosion was caused by a "Hamas jeep loaded with weapons".[72] Later, the IDF suggested that a militant warehouse containing ammunition or "some other material" in the area caused the fire. It also released an Arabic phone call, supposedly made by Hamas, in which they clearly say that the Israeli missile was not responsible for the fire, that the fire was caused by secondary explosions, and the secondary explosions came from an ammunition warehouse.[73] However, James Cavanaugh, who worked at the ATF, said the fire did not indicate "some giant stash that exploded."[68] The New York Times reviewed numerous videos and did not find evidence of a significant secondary explosion.[58]
Reactions
Domestic
Palestine
Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad condemned the attack, labeling it a massacre and calling for the Palestinian people to "rise up and march" against Israel.[5] A spokesperson for the Presidency of the Palestinian Authority condemned the incident, calling it a massacre[74] and called for an intervention.[75][76] A survivor of the attack stated, "They told us that this area is safe... but now there is no safe place in Gaza. There are massacres everywhere."[77] A lawyer with the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights stated the attack showed Israel was ignoring the International Court of Justice's interim orders.[78]
Israel
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the incident was a "tragic mistake".[79] Initially, the Israeli military said the attack was "under review",[43] while its top military prosecutor Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi called the incident "very grave".[80]
Some Israelis celebrated the attack, likening it to the Jewish holiday Lag BaOmer, in which bonfires are lit to commemorate a second century Rabbi. The analogy was made by Israel's Channel 14 senior journalist Yinon Magal, who posted pictures on social media captioned: "The main lighting of the year in Rafah" and by i24NEWS' Naveh Dromi commenting "Happy Holiday." Both posts were later removed. The comparison was also made by far-right rapper Yoav Eliasi, who posted videos on Telegram in celebration of the attack and also likened it to the holiday. Some Israeli social media users also shared memes and jokes about the attack, while others condemned the posts.[81][82][83]
International
Al-Jazeera said the attack "re-ignited" protests in support of Palestinians during the war, citing protests in Lebanon, Europe, and the United States.[84]
Governments
Belgium: Prime Minister Alexander De Croo called for further peace negotiations after the attack.[1]
Canada: A legislator and the leader of the New Democratic Party Jagmeet Singh posted a tweet after images of the incident went viral: "Images of the IDFs airstrike hitting a camp for displaced Palestinians in Rafah are horrifying. Images so terrible I won’t share them. The world is failing the people of Gaza. Canada is failing the people of Gaza."[85] Foreign Minister Melanie Joly stated, "Canada does not support an Israeli military operation in Rafah. This level of human suffering must come to an end".[86]
Chile: The country strongly condemns the "indiscriminate attack" by the Israeli forces.[87]
Colombia: President Gustavo Petro condemned the attack, stating that "the massacre continues".[87]
Egypt: The country condemned the attack, again calling on Israel to halt the Rafah offensive.[88]
France: President Emmanuel Macron said he was "outraged" at the attacks and again called for a ceasefire.[1][89]
Germany: German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock stated that the ICJ's measures were binding and urged Israel to follow international law.[90]
Indonesia: The country condemned the Israeli attack on camps for displaced Palestinians in Rafah in the strongest terms, calling it "a flagrant breach of the Orders of the ICJ".[91]
Iraq: Cleric and the leader of the Sadrist Movement, Moqtada al-Sadr, called for the closure of the US embassy in Baghdad after the attacks in Rafah.[92]
Italy: Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said that violence against Palestinians was "no longer justifiable".[93]
Ireland: the vice-prime minister said the attack was "barbaric" and urged Israel to halt the Rafah offensive.[94]
Japan: Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa say that the country is "deeply concerned" about the humanitarian situation in Rafah after the attacks.[95]
Jordan: The Foreign Ministry condemned the attacks and urged the international community to hold the perpetrators responsible.[96]
Norway: Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide stated that the Israeli attack on Rafah has "breached international law".[97]
Oman: The Foreign Ministry condemned the attack.[98]
Turkey: President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan condemned the attack, saying Turkey will do "everything possible" to hold "barbaric" Netanyahu to account.[99][100]
Qatar: The country warned that the strike could hinder ceasefire negotiations.[88]
Saudi Arabia: The country said that it "condemns in the strongest terms the continued massacres" carried out by Israeli forces in Gaza and that it "affirms its categorical rejection of the continued flagrant violations by the Israeli occupation forces of all international and humanitarian resolutions, laws, and norms".[74] The Saudi Foreign Ministry also called for the international community to intervene in the conflict.[101]
South Africa: The International Relations Department says the government has joined the international community and condemned the Israeli attack.[102]
Spain: Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said the bombing of Rafah was "one more day with innocent Palestinian civilians being killed", adding that the gravity of the attack "is even larger" as it comes after the ICJ order directing Israel to halt its operations in Rafah and the rest of Gaza.[74]
UAE: The country condemned the attack and stressed that Israel had to follow the ICJ's ruling.[1]
United Kingdom: The UK Foreign Office reiterated that it didn't support the Rafah offensive.[1] The leader of the then-opposition Labour Party Keir Starmer said that he would push for an end to the invasion of Gaza.[103]
United States: a White House spokesperson expressed sadness at the casualties, but emphasized that Israel had the right to defend itself.[104] While the Biden administration had previously said that a Rafah offensive would cross its "red line", on 28 May, the administration announced that the attack didn't violate its "red line", which it said was a "large-scale" ground operation.[105] On May 29, the United Nations Security Council met to discuss a resolution that would order Israel to halt the Rafah offensive. The American ambassador insisted Israel has a right to defend itself,[106] and opposed the resolution.[107]
Yemen: The Aden-Based Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the "heinous massacre committed by the forces of the Israeli entity." and called on the United Nations Security Council to "assume its responsibilities to stop the machinery of death and destruction, and to provide immediate protection for the Palestinian people".[108]
Supranational
African Union: The African Union Commission said the ICJ order must be "urgently enforced if global order is to prevail". Its chairman Moussa Faki wrote on X: "With horrific overnight airstrikes killing mostly Palestinian women & children trapped in a displacement camp in Rafah, the State of Israel continues to violate international law with impunity and in contempt of an ICJ ruling two days ago ordering an end to its military action in Rafah".[74]
European Union: Foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, condemned the attack, saying that Israel's military actions needed to stop.[109]
United Nations: United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, condemned the attack and called it "unacceptable", stating that Israel must face sanctions to pressure them to stop.[110] Albanese described the attack as "yet another massacre."[111] The UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned "Israel’s actions which killed scores of innocent civilians who were only seeking shelter from this deadly conflict", adding that "This horror must stop."[109]
- UNRWA: Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner General of UNRWA, said that images from the attack were "a testament to how Rafah has turned into hell on earth".[112]
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation: The OIC called the attack a "heinous massacre" and an act of "state-organised terrorism".[113]- International Criminal Court: Chris Gunness said that the three pre-trial chamber judges were as "horrified as the rest of the world" about the attack.[49]
Humanitarian aid groups
- International Committee of the Red Cross: A spokesperson for the group said there was a need to follow international law, and that Gaza's healthcare system couldn't handle the attack.[5]
- Doctors Without Borders: the group said the attack showed "nowhere in Gaza is safe" and reiterated its call for a ceasefire.[114]
- Palestine Red Crescent Society: the group noted that Israel forcibly displaced civilians into that area.[115]
- ActionAid UK: the group condemned the "inhumane, barbaric" attack.[2][116]
- 19 aid groups said in a joint statement: "As Israeli attacks intensify on Rafah, the unpredictable trickle of aid into Gaza has created a mirage of improved access, while the humanitarian response is in reality on the verge of collapse."[117][118]
A British doctor in Rafah said that videos of the attack were "truly some of the worst that I have seen".[119]
Following the attack, several aid organisations in this part of the city were forced to close their operations and move them to other parts of the Gaza Strip, including the Al Quds field hospital run by the Palestine Red Crescent Society, a clinic supported by Doctors Without Borders and kitchens run by the World Central Kitchen.[120][121][122]
Other
- Council on American-Islamic Relations: The American-Muslim advocacy and civil rights organization condemned the attacks and demanded that US President Joe Biden stop arming Israel to embolden further attacks on civilians in the face of several prior attacks using US weapons.[123] National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell stated in a news conference that Biden should not keep "shifting" and "cross[ing] his own red line" and "every red line of U.S. law, international law and basic human decency", and that him providing "military, financial, and diplomatic support" to these operations was staining all Americans "with the blood of innocent Palestinians".[124]
- Jewish Voice for Peace: the US-based Jewish advocacy group condemned the "massacre" carried out by Israel, stating that "the genocide must end".[125]
- Former First Minister of Scotland, Humza Yousaf, wrote: "Bear witness to the images and ask yourself, are you on the right side of history?" after sharing the images of the incident.[85]
- An image depicting tents in a camp arranged to spell out "All Eyes on Rafah", calling for people to pay attention to the offensive in the aftermath of the strike, went viral on social media, with many celebrities re-posting the image.[126][127][128]
- In response to Netanyahu describing the attack as a "tragedy" and "mistake", Journalist Renee Graham said "mistake" and "accident" are words the Israeli leadership uses after every mass killing of civilians in Gaza.[129]
- Following the attack, British Formula One racing driver Lewis Hamilton urged Israel to halt its offensive in Rafah, writing on Instagram that "Enough is enough. We cannot continue to watch this tragedy unfold and not speak up."[130][131]
- Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi stated, "Images of children burning in refugee tents in Rafah starkly depict the decline of humanity in our world".[132]
- Columbia University Apartheid Divest: Student protestors at Columbia briefly set up a third campus occupation during the university's alumni weekend, partially motivated by the attack, saying the administration was complicit in it.[133]
See also
- Jabalia refugee camp airstrikes (2023–2024)
- Israeli attacks on Al-Maghazi refugee camp
- al-Shati refugee camp airstrikes
- Flour massacre
- May 2024 Al-Mawasi refugee camp attack
- List of massacres in the Palestinian territories
- Israeli war crimes in the Israel–Hamas war
- List of accidents and incidents involving transport or storage of ammunition
- Sri Lankan Civil War § Fighting in the 'No-Fire Zone'
Notes
References
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