Rafah pounded after UN meeting on camp blaze

RAFAH, Palestinian Territories — Israel on Wednesday carried out fresh strikes in Rafah, where its forces are battling Hamas militants, after the United Nations Security Council met to discuss a recent deadly attack that sparked global fury.

Despite mounting concern over the civilian toll of its war on Hamas, Israel has shown no sign of changing course, and international efforts aimed at securing a ceasefire remain stalled.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalists in Rafah reported new strikes early on Wednesday, hours after witnesses and a Palestinian security source said Israeli tanks had penetrated the heart of the Gaza Strip's southernmost city.

LOUD AND CLEAR A member of the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community holds an anti-Israel sign during a rally outside Downing Street, central London, United Kingdom, on May 28, 2024. AFP PHOTO

«People are currently inside their homes because anyone who moves is being shot at by Israeli drones,» resident Abdel Khatib said.

United States President Joe Biden has warned Israel against launching a major military operation in Rafah, but his administration insisted on Tuesday that Israel had not yet crossed its red lines.

«We have not seen them smash into Rafah,» US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

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A civil defense official in Hamas-run Gaza said an Israeli strike on a displacement camp west of Rafah on Tuesday killed at least 21 people, after a similar strike over the weekend sparked global outrage and prompted the emergency UN Security Council session.

Israel's army rejected allegations that it had carried out Tuesday's strike in a designated humanitarian area.

«The [Israel army] did not strike in the humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi,» the army said in a statement, referring to an area that had been designated for displaced people of Rafah to shelter.

This attack came two days after an Israeli strike outside Rafah ignited a blaze in a displacement camp, torching makeshift shelters and killing 45 people, Palestinian officials said.

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Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the strike a «tragic accident,» while the army said it had targeted a Hamas compound and killed two senior