Israel's deadly attack on tent camp confirms 'there is no safety' in Gaza, survivors say

WARNING: This story con‐ tains graphic details.

Families who survived a deadly Israeli airstrike on a tent camp in Rafah described a horrific scene of scorched tents and burning bodies on Sunday, as the attack brought further scrutiny to Israel's continued offensive in the city.

Witnesses said people were preparing for evening prayer when the strike hit the Tel al-Sultan neighbourhood, where thousands had tried to find shelter after Israeli forces launched a ground of‐ fensive in the east of Rafah more than two weeks ago.

"We were sitting safely and suddenly we find bodies thrown on the ground, blood splattered on the ground heads cut off, hands cut off .... We were screaming at each other," said Malak Filfel, 23, who said children were among those killed.

"This is not a life," Filfel said added. "There is no safety. We're not getting out. No matter where we go, we will die here."

Israeli leaflets in‐ structed Gazans to head for camp

The airstrike started a mas‐ sive fire that quickly tore through thin tents and makeshift shelters. The health ministry in Gaza said 45 people were killed in the attack. By daylight Monday, the camp was filled with smoking tents, twisted metal and charred belongings. Women cried as men prayed over the bodies.

Some survivors said they had come to the camp be‐ cause they followed a warn‐ ing on Israeli leaflets, telling them to leave Rafah for the "humanitarian area."

"For your safety, the Is‐ raeli Defence Force is asking you to leave these areas im‐ mediately and to go to known shelters in Deir el Bal‐ ah or the humanitarian area in Tel al-Sultan through Beach Road," read one leaflet translated from Arabic.

"Don't blame us after we warned you."

Defeated, Filfel described reading the white and red pa‐ pers.

"They threw on us leaflets saying, 'Go to the south.' ... So when we came here to the south, they also massacred us," she said.

WATCH | Survivors ques‐ tion where else to go after Israeli airstrike hits camp:

Abu Mohamed Abu AlSabaa, 67, said he chose Tel al-Sultan as his next refuge because it was supposed to be a humanitarian area. He said he looked out of his tent after hearing a loud noise Sunday to find flames "two metres high" before his neighbour's shelter col‐ lapsed, leaving him momen‐ tarily trapped.

"I hit the plastic [tent] with the power of God to open the way and the kids and everyone got out," he said.

"I got out and found bod‐ ies."

More than half of the dead were women, children and elderly people, Palestin‐ ian health officials said, adding that the death toll was likely to rise as more people caught in the blaze were in critical condition with severe burns.

"There is nowhere safe in the Gaza strip. We strongly contest any idea that there is somewhere you are able to go and find safety. It's been proven time and time again that no matter where people are, no matter where families and children are sheltering, they are not safe," said Louise Wateridge, a spokesperson for UNRWA, the main United Nations agency in Gaza.

UNRWA said 800,000 peo‐ ple have been forced to flee Rafah since Israel launched its military operation in the area earlier this month.

"I swear to god we're ex‐ hausted," said Umm Mo‐ hamed Taha, 37. "We're dis‐ placed from here to there and there to here."

"Tell me where can I find a safe place to go with our kids."

International condem‐ nation rises

The international commu‐ nity was quick to condemn the attack, as were some of Israel's closest allies. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Ne‐ tanyahu on Monday said the strike was "a "tragic acci‐ dent," but reinforced the na‐ tion's commitment to a com‐ plete defeat of Hamas.

"In Rafah, we already evacuated about one million non-combatant residents and despite our utmost ef‐ fort not to harm non-com‐ batants, something unfortu‐ nately went tragically wrong," he said in a speech in parlia‐ ment.

Israel has continued its at‐ tack on Rafah despite a ruling from the UN's top court on Friday ordering the nation to stop. The court also reiterated calls for Hamas to immediately release hostages held in Gaza with‐ out condition.

Canadian politicians had harsh words for the attack.

"Women and children were burned alive in tents. They were told they were in a safe zone, in a refugee en‐ campment, yet they were burned alive," NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Monday.

"Our position has been clear on Rafah, and we've been saying it now for weeks: Palestinian civilians do not have any safe space to go. the killing of innocent civil‐ ians is completely unaccept‐ able and the decisions of the International Court of Justice are binding," said Foreign Af‐ fairs Minister Mélanie Joly.

WATCH | Joly calls for a ceasefire:

The Israeli military said "precise intelligence" indi‐ cated the attack had killed two Hamas leaders, including its chief of staff for the occu‐ pied West Bank. An indepen‐ dent body "responsible for examining unusual incidents in combat" would investigate the incident, the Israeli De‐ fence Force added.

UNRWA said the images from the "horrifying" attack on Sunday were "yet another testament" that Gaza has be‐ come "hell on earth."

Wateridge said the civilian casualties should have been avoided.

"What is shockingly clear is that striking such an area densely packed with civilians, the outcome that has been last night and today was en‐ tirely predictable," she said in an interview with CBC's As It Happens.

LISTEN | Wateridge speaks about the attack:

"There has to be a differ‐ ent way for any military of‐ fensive to go forward and the safety of civilians has to be put first."

Israel's assault on Gaza has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry. Israel attacked the enclave after Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people and took another 250 hostage in a surprise attack on Oct. 7, according to Israeli tallies.