United Nations (Web Desk/Agencies): The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday, following the brutal airstrike by Israel near Rafah, a city in the southern Gaza Strip, that left dozens dead.
The meeting was requested by Algeria, a non-permanent member of the 15-member Council, and backed by Slovenia, diplomats said.
The Palestinian health authority in Gaza said at least 50 people were killed and dozens injured in the Sunday airstrike that hit tents housing displaced people.
Most of the victims of the airstrike were women and children, the health authority said, describing the incident as a “massacre”.
On Sunday, Israeli warplanes fired eight missiles towards makeshift shelters housing internally displaced persons in Rafah’s northwest, killing at least 50 Palestinians.
Many world leaders and international organizations have vehemently condemned the attack, citing the already desperate situation of the victims.
“There is no safe place in Gaza. This horror must stop,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres posted on social media.
ActionAid UK, the British chapter of an international relief organization, noted that the shelters struck during the assault “were supposed to be safe havens for innocent civilians, yet they became targets of brutal violence.”
“Children, women, and men are being burned alive under their tents and shelters,” it noted.
Reacting to the Israeli strike, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas called it an “egregious affront” to a recent ruling by the International Court of Justice, which ordered the Israeli regime to “immediately” halt its offensive against Rafah.
Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli war in Gaza has claimed the lives of more than 36,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, throughout the coastal enclave.