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ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Live: Netanyahu calls Israel’s deadly strike on Rafah tent camp a ‘tragic mistake’
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu acknowledged a “tragic mistake” after an Israeli strike killed dozens of people in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Sunday night in a speech before parliament on Monday. Netanyahu said Israel was investigating the strike. Read our liveblog for all the latest developments on the Israel-Hamas war.

Issued on: 27/05/2024 – 01:37
Modified: 27/05/2024 – 15:28

2 min
A Palestinian man walks past a destroyed building in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on May 26, 2024.
A Palestinian man walks past a destroyed building in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on May 26, 2024. © Eyad Baba, AFP
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FRANCE 24
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FRANCE 24
Summary:
French President Emmanuel Macron voiced outrage on Monday over deadly Israeli strikes on a tented camp for displaced Palestinians in Rafah and called for an “immediate ceasefire” in the Gaza war.

The death toll from the Israeli strikes on a camp housing displaced Palestinians near Rafah rose to 45, according to Gaza’s health ministry. The Israeli military said it was investigating reports of civilian casualties.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Monday said an International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling telling Israel to stop its offensive in Gaza’s Rafah must be implemented.

Israel said Monday it had told Spain’s consulate in Jerusalem to stop offering consular services to Palestinians from June 1, as a “punitive” measure for Madrid’s recognition of a Palestinian state.

At least 35,984 Palestinians have been killed and 80,643 wounded in Israel’s war in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Some 1,170 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks and 250 people were taken hostage, according to Israeli figures, with 132 still missing.

LIVE
23 minutes ago
Thousands in Paris protest against Israel offensive in Gaza
Several thousand demonstrators gathered in Paris on Monday evening to protest against Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, said a Reuters photographer at the scene.

The protesters gathered by the Saint Augustin area in the French capital’s 8th district, not far from the Israeli Embassy.

Earlier on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron said he was “outraged” over an Israeli airstrike that triggered a fire killing 45 people in a tent camp in the Gazan city of Rafah and prompting an outcry from global leaders.

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42 minutes ago
Egypt warns against compromising security of its forces
Egypt warned against compromising the security and safety of its security forces following a shooting incident with Israeli forces along the Rafah border with Gaza, a high-level source told Egypt’s state-linked Al-Qahera news on Monday.

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3 hours ago
White House urges Israel to protect civilians after “devastating” Rafah strike
The United States urged Israel on Monday to take every precaution to protect civilians after “devastating images” from a military strike in Rafah that killed dozens of Palestinians.

“Israel has a right to go after Hamas, and we understand this strike killed two senior Hamas terrorists who are responsible for attacks against Israeli civilians,” a National Security Council spokesperson said. “But as we’ve been clear, Israel must take every precaution possible to protect civilians.”

“We are actively engaging the IDF and partners on the ground to assess what happened, and understand that the IDF is conducting an investigation.”

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3 hours ago
Yemen’s Houthis say they attacked three ships, two US destroyers
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis said on Monday they launched attacks on three ships in the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, and two US destroyers in the Red Sea.

The group, which describes its attacks as acts of solidarity with Palestinians in Israel’s war in Gaza, said the ships were the Larego Desert and the MSC Mechela in the Indian Ocean, and the Minerva Lisa in the Red Sea. It did not name the destroyers.

There was no immediate confirmation from shipping companies or the US military of any attacks in those areas.

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3 hours ago
Lebanon’s Hezbollah says fires rocket salvo at northern Israel
Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group said it launched two barrages of rockets Monday at northern Israel in response to a deadly Israeli strike outside a south Lebanon hospital earlier in the day.

Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, has traded regular cross-border fire with Israel since the Palestinian militant group’s October 7 attack on southern Israel which triggered the war in the Gaza Strip.

Hezbollah fighters fired two salvos of “dozens of Katyusha rockets” at northern Israel “in response to the Israeli enemy attack that targeted the Martyr Salah Ghandour Hospital in Bint Jbeil”, the group said in two subsequent statements.

The rockets targeted different areas of Israel’s north including Meron and Kiryat Shmona, the group said.

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4 hours ago
Israel PM says deadly Rafah strike a ‘tragic incident’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday a deadly strike that hit a displacement camp in Gaza’s Rafah was a “tragic incident” which his government was “investigating”.

“In Rafah, we evacuated a million uninvolved residents, and despite our best efforts a tragic incident happened yesterday (Sunday),” Netanyahu told parliament, adding that “we are investigating the case and will draw the conclusions” after Gaza officials reported 45 dead as the Israeli strike caused a fire.

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4 hours ago
EU ministers give green light to Rafah border missions, policy chief Borrell says
European Foreign Affairs Ministers gave their green light on Monday to reactivate an EU border mission at Rafah, a city in the southern Gaza Strip, bloc’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.

“I have green light from EU ministers to reactivate the Rafah border mission,” he said, adding that such a mission would need support of Egypt, Israel and Palestinians.

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5 hours ago
Egyptian guard killed in shooting on Rafah border, Israel and Egypt investigating
A member of Egypt’s security forces was killed in a shooting incident near the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip and an investigation is under way, Egypt’s military spokesperson said in a statement on Monday.

Israel’s military had earlier said it was investigating reports of an exchange of fire between Israeli and Egyptian soldiers.

“A few hours ago (Monday), a shooting incident occurred on the Egyptian border. The incident is under review and discussions are being held with the Egyptians,” the Israeli military said in a statement.

Israel seized control of the Rafah border crossing from the Gaza side of the border earlier this month as it stepped up its military offensive in the area, drawing criticism from Egypt.

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5 hours ago
Israel’s deadly attack on Rafah camp draws condemnation from abroad
Israel faced a wave of international condemnation Monday over a strike that Gaza officials said killed 45 people when it set off a fire that ripped through a tent city for displaced Palestinians.

Israel said it was looking into the “grave and awful” impact on civilians after the latest mass casualty event in the Gaza war which has raged since October 7.

The army said Sunday evening’s attack in the southern Rafah area had targeted and killed two senior Hamas operatives — but it also sparked a fire that Palestinians and many Arab countries condemned as a “massacre”.

FRANCE 24’s Irris Makler reports from Jerusalem on the diplomatic fallout from the attack.

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6 hours ago
International community should redouble pressure on Israel, Colombia FM says
The international community should insist to Israel and its allies that the country negotiate a peaceful solution to the conflict in Gaza, Colombia’s foreign minister Luis Gilberto Murillo said.

Murillo said actions in Gaza, where Israel’s military campaign has killed some 36,000 people according to local authorities, constitute a genocide.

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6 hours ago
Israeli military investigating reported exchange of fire with Egyptian troops
The Israeli military said on Monday it was investigating reports of an exchange of fire between Israeli and Egyptian soldiers close to the Rafah border crossing with Gaza.

“A few hours ago (Monday), a shooting incident occurred on the Egyptian border. The incident is under review and discussions are being held with the Egyptians,” the military said in a statement.

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7 hours ago
Rafah strikes could ‘hinder’ Gaza truce talks, mediator Qatar says
Israel’s latest strikes on a displaced people’s camp near Gaza’s southern city of Rafah could hinder talks towards a truce and hostage release deal, mediator nation Qatar said on Monday.

The foreign ministry voiced “concern that the bombing will complicate ongoing mediation efforts and hinder reaching an agreement for an immediate and permanent ceasefire”.

Qatar, alongside the United States and Egypt, has been engaged in months of talks aimed at securing a truce deal between Israel and Hamas in the devastated Gaza Strip.

But behind-the-scenes negotiations reached a stalemate earlier this month as Israel sent ground forces into Rafah.

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7 hours ago
EU’s Borrell condemns Israeli’s strikes on Rafah
The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell condemned on Monday an Israeli air strike in the Gaza city of Rafah, which officials have said killed 45 people in a tent camp.

“Horrified by news coming out of Rafah on Israeli strikes killing dozens of displaced persons, including small children. I condemn this in the strongest terms,” wrote Borrell on his X social media account.

“There is no safe place in Gaza. These attacks must stop immediately. ICJ (International Court of Justice) orders & IHL (international humanitarian law) must be respected by all parties,” he added.

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7 hours ago
Officials say an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon wounds several civilians outside a hospital
An Israeli strike targeting a motorcycle in southern Lebanon on Monday hit next to a hospital entrance, killing at least one person and wounding several civilians who were gathered outside, local health officials said.

The strike killed the motorcycle driver in the town of Bint Jbeil. It was not immediately clear who the driver was.

The Israeli army did not immediately give a statement on the strike but said it had targeted other areas of southern Lebanon in response to “terrorist launches.”

The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has been exchanging strikes with Israeli forces in the border area almost daily since Oct. 8, a day after the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza began.

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7 hours ago
Israel’s envoy to Ireland, recalled in Palestine dispute, warns of tech impact
Israel’s ambassador to Dublin warned on Monday that a crisis in bilateral ties over Ireland’s plan to recognise a Palestinian state sends the wrong message about Ireland as a tech hub and is worrying Israeli investors in the Irish IT services sector.

Speaking in Jerusalem, where she has held Foreign Ministry consultations after being recalled in protest, Ambassador Dana Erlich voiced hope of returning to Ireland, though she saw its government as siding with the Palestinians against Israel.

The statehood recognition is due to be formalised on Tuesday by Ireland in conjunction with Spain and Norway. The United States and some other European countries favour first reviving negotiations on resolving the conflict.

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8 hours ago
Macron ‘outraged’ by Israeli strikes on Rafah
French President Emmanuel Macron said he was “outraged” over Israel’s latest strikes on a camp for displaced people near Rafah that killed dozens.

“These operations must stop. There are no safe areas in Rafah for Palestinian civilians,” said Macron on X.

Macron also called for a “full respect for international law and an immediate ceasefire”.

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8 hours ago
Death toll from Israeli strike on Rafah camp rises to 45
The death toll from Israeli strikes on Sunday on a Rafah camp for displaced people has risen to 45, the Gaza health ministry said.

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10 hours ago
Two opposing accounts of Israeli strikes on Rafah
There are two opposing accounts of Israeli strikes on Rafah, which killed dozens of people on Sunday, says FRANCE 24’s Rob Parsons, reporting from Jerusalem.

Aid groups and residents in Gaza say the IDF bombed an area to the northwest of Rafah, which has been designated a humanitarian zone by the Israeli authorities after they ordered people in central and western Rafah to evacuate the city.

Israel says it targeted a Hamas compound in the area with a precision bomb.

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11 hours ago
Saudi Arabia condemns Israel’s attack on Rafah camp for displaced Palestinians
Saudi Arabia has condemned Israel’s attack on Rafah, “the latest of which is targeting the tents of displaced Palestinians near the warehouses of UNRWA northwest of Rafah”, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

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11 hours ago
Israeli military prosecutor says ‘very grave’ Rafah incident under investigation
Israel’s top military prosecutor described the strikes on a Rafah camp for displaced Palestinians as “very grave” and said an after-action investigation by the armed forces was underway.

“The details of the incident are still under an investigation, which we are committed to conducting to the fullest extent,” Major-General Yifat Tomer Yerushalmi told a conference hosted by the Israel Bar Association.

“The IDF (Israel Defence Forces) regrets any harm to non-combatants during the war.”