Global outrage after dozens killed in Israeli airstrike on Rafah camp

Leaders express horror after attack that leaves ceasefire talks at risk

- Bethan McKernan

An Israeli airstrike that caused a huge blaze at a camp for displaced people in Rafah killed 45 people, medics said yesterday, with images of dead and injured children prompting an outcry from global leaders and putting ceasefire talks in jeopardy.

Bombing on Sunday night, which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said targeted senior Hamas militants, appears to have ignited fires that spread quickly through tents, overwhelming a nearby field hospital operated by the Red Cross and overstretched local hospitals.

"We pulled out people who were in an unbearable state," Mohammed Abuassa, who rushed to the scene in the north-western neighbourhood of Tel al-Sultan, told the Associated Press. "We pulled out children who were in pieces. We pulled out young and elderly people. The fire in the camp was unreal." The health ministry in the Hamascontrolled area said about half the dead were women, children and older adults. Children wandered around the smoking wreckage yesterday as searches for the dead continued and mourning families prepared to bury loved ones.

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said in parliament yesterday that "something unfortunately went tragically wrong" with the airstrike. "We are investigating the incident and will reach conclusions," he said.

The US, Israel's staunchest ally and weapons supplier, described the images from the aftermath as devastating.

The strike, one of the deadliest single incidents in the eight-month war to date, came two days after the international court of justice in The Hague, which arbitrates between states, ordered Israel to stop its operation in Rafah immediately.