White House calls Rafah strike "heartbreaking" while emphasizing deaths of Hamas leaders  (2024)

An Israeli strike in Rafah that left dozens of civilians dead is "heartbreaking," a National Security Council spokesperson said on Monday, adding the US was "actively engaging" with officials in Israel to determine what precisely happened.

The official added that the US is actively engaged with Israel Defense Forces on the ground "to assess what happened,and understand that the IDF is conducting an investigation."

Here's what we know: At least 45 people were killed and 200 were wounded in anIsraeli strikeon a camp for displaced people inRafahon Sunday, according to Gazan authorities. The Israeli military claimed it struck a Hamas compound in the area,killing two senior officialsfrom the militant group.

Remember: The US has repeatedly warned Israel against a large-scale ground invasion of Rafah without a plan to protect the million-plus civilians who are sheltering there.

Speaking following a visit to Israel last week, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said he had detected “refinements” to Israel’s plan, which he said was now more “targeted and limited” in scale.

US President Joe Biden has said he would not provide heavy bombs to Israel in support of a Rafah operation, but has recently approved a $1 billion military aid package that includes tank ammunition and mortar rounds.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it is investigating the airstrike that killed dozens of people in Rafah on Sunday, according to Gazan authorities.

In a statement Monday, the IDF said its General Staff's Fact-Finding and Assessment Mechanism had launched an investigation into the "circ*mstances of the deaths of civilians in the area of the strike."

The mechanism is an independent body responsible for examining allegations of misconduct in conflict. Military Advocate General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi ordered the investigation to be carried out, the IDF said.

Some background: At least 45 people were killed and 200 wounded after the strike hit a camp for displaced people, according the government media office in Gaza.

The IDF said the attack was conducted based on “prior intelligence” indicating that senior officials of Hamas’s West Bank wing were present at the site, and that it had assessed there would be "no expected harm to civilians."

Palestinians with disabilities in Gaza fear they will be killed first because of limited opportunities to flee due to their impairment, the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons and Disabilities (CRPD) said in a release on Monday.

Among the examples cited was that of a 14-year-old girl with cerebral palsy who had lost her assistive devices, including a wheelchair, and had to be carried by her parents while fleeing from the north of Gaza to the south amid Israel's offensive.

At one point, the girl told her family: "Leave me here, and you run away," the committee said. The girl survived but is at risk of being displaced again, it added.

The CPRD called for an immediate ceasefire and underscored the obligation to the Convention on the Rights of Persons and Disabilities, which calls for all necessary measures to ensure the protection and safety of people with disabilities in situations of risk, including in armed conflict.

CNN has previously reported on the struggles of disabled Palestinians in Gaza. Read more here.

Egypt’s military spokesperson said a person was killed during a shooting incident Monday on the border between Egypt and Gaza. Israel’s military also acknowledged that a “shooting incident” had occurred.

The Egyptian statement did not identify the person killed, or whether the person belonged to the Egyptian military. Instead, it described the person as “one of the personnel in charge of security.”

The spokesperson, Colonel Gharib Abdel-Hafez, said the Egyptian military is conducting an investigation into the incident.

Separately, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the incident had taken place “a few hours ago” and is now under review. “Discussions are being held with the Egyptians,” the IDF said in a statement.

Some background: The relationship between Egypt and Israel became tense after Israeli troops moved into an area known as the Philadelphi Corridor and took control of the Rafah crossing earlier this month. The Philadelphi Corridor is a 14-kilometer (about 8.7-mile) long and 100-meter-wide strip of land running along the border between Gaza and Egypt.

Hours after Israel’s airstrike on a displacement camp in Rafah, smoke is seen rising above the site with torn up cars and charred belongings scattered on the destroyed pavement.

Dozens of residents, including children gathered around the camp, sifted through blackened clothes, blankets and mattresses to recover whatever is salvageable. CNN video from the scene shows people walking over what used to be their shelter and appear to bein shock over the destruction.

Ranin Miqdad, who was living in the camp, told CNNthatIsraeli forces did not warn residents before they struck the area during what she called a “terrifying night."

"People flew away here and there, we needed flashlights to find the remains of little children," she added.

Ranin said residents who survived the attack are now trying to leave the camp out of fear. Others, like her, don’t have the means to go anywhere, and have nowhere to go, she said.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he was "outraged" overIsrael's strike on a camp for displaced people in Rafah on Sunday, which Gazan authorities say killed at least45 people.

"I call for full respect for international law and an immediate ceasefire," Macron added.

The strikes happened days after Macron welcomed the Foreign Ministers of Qatar, Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia in Paris for talks on the situation in Gaza.

Israel must abide by the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) ruling to immediately halt its operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, the European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Monday.

Borrell added that Hamas launching rockets into Israel “doesn’t respect the rules of the world." His comments follow Hamas claiming responsibility for firing rockets at Tel Aviv on Sunday.

He also said that Israel accusing the International Criminal Court (ICC) of antisemitism is “completely unacceptable.”

Last week, the ICC’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan said the court was seekingarrest warrantsfor Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuand defense minister Yoav Gallant, alongside three top Hamas leaders, including Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar.

The death toll from Israel's airstrike on a displacement camp in Rafah has risen to 45, including over 200 wounded, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.

The ministry said seven Israeli strikes killed 66 people across the Strip in the last 24 hours.

It said that in all 36,050 people have been killed and 81,026 injured since October 7.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğansaid that his country “will do everything” in its power to hold Israeli officials accountable after Israel struck a displacement camp in Rafah.

Erdogan said the strike is “a massacre which took place after the International Court of Justice's call to halt the attacks” and called Israel a “terrorist state.”