By Blessing Chinagorom
The United States has deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life in Rafah over the weekend through the military operation ongoing in Gaza.
The State Department Spokesman, Mathew Miller who made this known during a Press Briefing on Tuesday said the video images emerged from the fire incident were heartbreaking.
Dozens of people were killed in Rafah in southern Gaza late Sunday in an Israeli airstrike on an area where displaced civilians were sheltering in tents. The strike sparked a fire that tore across the camp, local officials said.
Miller who could not imagine the pain that those victim families are suffering through, especially those who lost children and those who have lost family members for a repeated number of times.
“As we have said before, Israel has a right to go after the Hamas terrorist responsible for the cold blooded murder of civilians, as appears to have been Israel’s aim here, and Hamas should stop hiding behind civilians in Gaza.
“But Israel also has the obligation to do everything possible to minimize civilian harm as it carries out its operations”, he said.
He revealed that as soon as United States saw reports of this incident, it reached out to the Government of Israel to express its deep concern over what happened, ask for more information, and urged them to undertake a full investigation.
Miller disclosed that earlier on Tuesday, Israel announced the results of a preliminary investigation and said that this strike was carried out using the smallest bomb in their arsenal, targeting terrorists 1.7 kilometers away from the al-Mawasi area where this fire took place.
He said the Israeli Defense Forces is continuing to investigate this matter and has promised to be swift, comprehensive, and transparent. “We will be watching those results closely.
“And we will continue to emphasize to Israel of their obligation to comply fully with the international humanitarian law, minimize the impact of their operations on civilians, and maximize the flow of humanitarian assistance to those in need”, he said.
The strike that sparked the fire drew condemnation from world leaders just days after the United Nations’ top court ordered Israel to halt its offensive on the southern Gaza city, where more than a million people had sought refuge.
In an address to the Knesset on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the strike “a tragic incident,” his office said, clarifying comments made in Hebrew that could be translated in English as either “a tragic mishap” or “a tragic mistake.”
As global outcry mounted, the IDF initially said that it had targeted two senior Hamas leaders, that it did not strike a designated humanitarian area and that it took steps to reduce the risk of harming civilians. It said a full investigation would be conducted into “the deaths of civilians in the area of the strike.
