The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported that a shelling attack near its Gaza office resulted in the deaths of 22 people.
The office, located in an area crowded with displaced Palestinians living in tents, was damaged during the attack.
According to the health ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory, the shelling left 25 dead and 50 injured, with Israel being held responsible for the attack.
The ministry stated that the shelling targeted the tents of displaced people in the al-Mawasi area, which is near the ICRC office.
Witnesses told the Associated Press (AP) that some victims were killed while trying to help others who panicked after an initial bombardment.
The ICRC did not specify who fired the “heavy-calibre projectiles,” but mentioned in a statement on social media platform X that the shells “damaged the structure of the ICRC office.”
Following the shelling, 22 bodies and 45 wounded individuals were taken to a nearby Red Cross field hospital. There were also “reports of additional casualties.”
Al-Mawasi had been declared a humanitarian “safe zone” by Israel, prompting thousands of people to seek refuge there following Israel’s offensive on Rafah, a southern city.
Ahmed Radwan, a spokesperson for Civil Defence first responders in Rafah, mentioned that witnesses reported shelling at two locations in the coastal area filled with makeshift tents.
AP noted that the locations of the attacks provided by Civil Defence appeared to be just outside the designated safe zone.
The Israeli military stated that the incident was under review, adding that “there is no indication that a strike was carried out by the IDF” within the safe zone, without providing further details on the intended targets.
Previously, Israel had bombed areas around al-Mawasi, a rural region lacking water and sewage systems where Palestinians live under dire conditions.
“Two tanks climbed a hilltop overseeing Mawasi and they sent balls of fire that hit the tents of the poor people displaced in the area,” a resident told Reuters via a chat app.
Witnesses whose relatives were killed near the Red Cross field hospital told AP that Israeli forces fired a second volley that killed people who had emerged from their tents.
Mona Ashour, who lost her husband in the attack, said the assault began with a munition that produced a loud bang and bright flash.
“We were in our tent and they hit with a ‘sound bomb’ near the Red Cross tents, and then my husband came out at the first sound,” Ashour said, holding back tears while clutching a young girl outside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
“And then they hit with the second one, which was a little closer to the entrance of the Red Cross,” she added.
Hasan al-Najjar reported that his sons were killed while aiding people who panicked after the first strike.
“My two sons went after they heard the women and children screaming,” he said at the hospital.
“They went to save the women, and they struck with the second projectile, and my sons were martyred.
They struck the place twice.”
The attack occurred less than a month after an Israeli bombing triggered a deadly fire in a camp for displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza, causing international outrage over the military’s expanding offensive into Rafah.
The ICRC stated: “Heavy-calibre projectiles landed within metres of the office and residences of the International Committee of the Red Cross on Friday afternoon.
Firing so dangerously close to humanitarian structures, of whose locations the parties to the conflict are aware and which are clearly marked with the Red Cross emblem, puts the lives of civilians and Red Cross staff at risk.”
“This grave security incident is one of several in recent days. Previously stray bullets have reached ICRC structures,” the statement added.
“We decry these incidents that put the lives of humanitarians and civilians at risk.”
Palestinian health officials reported that at least 45 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza on Friday.
According to Palestinian health authorities, over 37,400 people have been killed in the Israeli offensive over the past nine months, with thousands more believed to be buried under rubble and tens of thousands wounded.
Nearly the entire population of more than 2 million people has been left homeless and destitute.
The ICRC has been making urgent appeals for Israel and Hamas to respect international law and protect civilians caught in the conflict, which escalated following the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel.
Calling on both sides to do more to protect civilians “regardless of which side they are on,” ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric stated it was “the line between humanity and barbarity.”
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