The UN Security Council was set to convene an emergency meeting Tuesday over an Israeli strike that killed dozens in a displaced persons camp in Rafah, as three European countries were slated to formally recognize a Palestinian state, reports AFP.
AFP journalists on the ground early Tuesday reported fresh Israeli strikes overnight in the southern Gaza border city, where an Israeli attack targeting two senior Hamas members on Sunday night sparked a fire that ripped through a displacement center, killing 45, according to Gaza health officials.
The attack prompted a wave of international condemnation, with Palestinians and many Arab countries calling it a "massacre." Israel said it was looking into the "tragic accident."
"There is no safe place in Gaza. This horror must stop," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres posted on social media.
UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths pointed to the widespread warnings of civilian deaths that circulated ahead of Israel's incursion into Rafah, saying in a statement: "We've seen the consequences in last night's utterly unacceptable attack."
"To call it 'a mistake' is a message that means nothing for those killed, those grieving, and those trying to save lives," he added.
Diplomats said the UN Security Council would convene Tuesday for an emergency session called by Algeria to discuss the attack.
The EU's foreign policy chief said he was "horrified by news" of the strike, while French President Emmanuel Macron said he was "outraged," and a US National Security Council spokesperson said Israel "must take every precaution possible to protect civilians."
The Israeli military said it was launching a probe. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told parliament the deaths occurred "despite our best efforts" to protect civilians.
The outcry over the strike came as Spain, Ireland and Norway were set to formally recognise a Palestinian state on Tuesday in a decision slammed by Israel as a "reward" for Hamas.
"Recognising the state of Palestine is about justice for the Palestinian people," Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said Monday in Brussels.
It was also "the best guarantee of security for Israel and absolutely essential for reaching peace in the region," he said alongside his Irish and Norwegian counterparts.
On Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said he had told Spain's consulate in Jerusalem to stop offering consular services to West Bank Palestinians from June 1 as a "preliminary punitive" measure.
The top world court, the International Court of Justice, on Friday ordered Israel to halt any offensive in Rafah and elsewhere that could bring about "the physical destruction" of the Palestinians.
The war in Gaza started after Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Militants also took 252 hostages, 121 of whom remain in Gaza, including 37 the army says are dead.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 36,050 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of UNRWA, which has been central to aid operations in the besieged territory during the war, said on social media platform X that "with every day passing, providing assistance & protection becomes nearly impossible."
"The images from last night are testament to how Rafah has turned into hell on Earth," he said.
