Israel faced international condemnation on Monday over a strike that Gaza officials reported killed 45 people. The strike set off a fire that tore through a tent city for displaced Palestinians.
Israel stated that it was investigating the "tragic accident" and its impact on civilians following the latest mass casualty event in the Gaza war, which has been ongoing since October 7.
Tensions were further heightened when the Israeli and Egyptian militaries reported a "shooting incident" on Monday that resulted in the death of one Egyptian guard in the border area between Egypt and the southern Gaza Strip. Both forces stated that they were conducting investigations.
Israel's military claimed that the attack on Sunday evening in the southern Rafah area had targeted and killed two senior Hamas operatives. However, the attack also sparked a fire that Palestinians and many Arab countries condemned as a "massacre".
A spokesperson from the US National Security Council has stated that Israel "must take every precaution possible to protect civilians."
The UN Middle East envoy, Tor Wennesland, has called on Israel to conduct a "thorough and transparent" investigation into the strike. The Israeli military has announced that it is launching a probe.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk decried "horrific" images that "point to no apparent change in the methods and means of warfare used by Israel that have already led to so many civilian deaths".
French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X that "these operations must stop. There are no safe areas in Rafah for Palestinian civilians."
EU foreign ministers have agreed to request a meeting with Israel to ask for an explanation of its actions in the Rafah offensive despite a UN court order to stop it. The bloc's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, described the strike as "horrifying."
Footage from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society depicted chaotic nighttime scenes of paramedics rushing to the site of the attack and evacuating the wounded.
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