TEHRAN-International outrage is reverberating over an Israeli savage attack against civilians in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah.

On Sunday night, Israeli warplanes fired eight missiles toward a tent camp in Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood in western Rafah where thousands of Palestinians were taking shelter. 

Footage on social media showed flames sweeping through the camp as screaming people fled for safety. Videos also showed disturbing images including severely burned corpses and a man holding what appears to be the headless body of a little kid.

By Monday evening, it was reported that at least 45 people had been killed and 250 others injured. Most of the victims are women and children.

According to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), the dead included women and children, with many “burned alive” inside their tents.

Israeli officials had designated the makeshift camp a safe zone. 

Israel admitted it had carried out the attack but said it struck a "Hamas compound" and killed two senior members of the group. 

And this is how the regime tried to play down the tragic deaths of displaced Palestinians there. 

"The strike was carried out against legitimate targets under international law, using through the use of precise munitions and on the basis of precise intelligence that indicated Hamas' use of the area,” the Israeli army said in a statement. 

The attack has sparked condemnation from Palestinian officials, global organizations, and countries around the world. 

Massacre beyond all limits

The Palestinian presidency accused Israel of deliberately targeting civilians.

“The deliberate targeting of displaced persons’ tents in Rafah by the Israeli occupation army constitutes a massacre beyond all limits. Immediate intervention is required to halt these crimes against the Palestinian people,” Palestinian presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said. 

He added, “The perpetration of this heinous massacre by the Israeli occupation forces defies all international legal rulings, particularly the clear and explicit ICJ decision demanding the cessation of attacks on Rafah and the protection of the Palestinian people.”

On Friday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), issued a dramatic ruling, ordering Israel to "immediately halt its military offensive in Rafah".

But, Sunday’s massacre in the tent camp indicated Israel’s blatant disregard for the ruling issued by the UN's top court.   

“Egregious affront”

Hamas denounced the Israeli assault as an “egregious affront” to the ICJ ruling. 

The resistance movement urged Muslims around the world to step up their anti-Israeli activism in the face of the regime’s war of genocide that was launched on October 7. 

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri also said the United States is responsible for aiding Israel with weapons and money in the wake of the Sunday massacre. 

UNRWA: “Gaza is hell on earth”

The United Nations Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, described the Israeli attack as “horrifying”.

“Information coming out of Rafah about further attacks on families seeking shelter is horrifying. There are reports of mass casualties including children and women among those killed. Gaza is hell on earth. Images from last night are yet another testament to that,” UNRWA wrote on X.

“Insane war crimes”  

Iran called on the international community to give a practical response to the Israeli bombing. 

“This barbaric crime is a clear example of a war crime and an obvious violation of the interim orders issued by the International Court of Justice,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
 
“Whenever the child-killing Zionist regime suffers humiliating defeats on the battlefield, it commits such insane war crimes against Palestinian civilians,” Nasser Kanaani said on X.

UN rapporteur: Impose sanctions on Israel 

The UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territory said the Israeli bombing of the tent camp highlights the regime’s cruelty.  

“This cruelty, along with blatant defiance of the international law and system, is unacceptable. The #GazaGenocide? will not easily end without external pressure: Israel must face sanctions, justice, suspension of agreements, trade, partnership, and investments, as well as participation in international forums,” Francesca Albanese wrote on X. 

EU says “horrified by news coming out of Rafah”
 
The EU foreign policy chief accused Israel of ignoring the order by the ICJ, known as the World Court.

Josep Borrell said the ruling must be implemented.

Borrel also said on X, “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. There is no safe place in Gaza. These attacks must stop immediately. ICJ orders & IHL must be respected by all parties.”

Spain, Norway and Ireland which have announced that they formally recognize Palestine as a state on May 28 also made a blistering attack on Israel. 

Irish FM calls the attack “barbaric” 

The Irish foreign minister described the attack as “barbaric”. 

“One cannot bomb an area like that without shocking consequences in terms of innocent children and civilians. We would urge Israel to stop, to stop now, in terms of the military operation in Rafah,” Micheal Martin said. 

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said the gravity of the attack against the tent camp was larger than previous strikes amid the ICJ ruling ordering Israel to halt its Rafah offensive. 

Norway’s foreign minister slammed Israel for defying the ICJ order. 

Espen Barth Eide said the attacks are a “material breach of the decision of the highest court of the world. We’ve had a compulsory order from the International Court of Justice ordering Israel to stop its attack in Rafah. It is compulsory. It’s binding,” according to Al Jazeera. 

France “outraged by Israeli strike” 

The French president said he was “outraged by the Israeli strikes that have killed many displaced persons in Rafah”.

“These operations must stop. There are no safe areas in Rafah for Palestinian civilians. I call for full respect for international law and an immediate ceasefire,” Emmanuel Macron said on X. 

UK puts condemnation on hold

Britain also reacted to the Israeli assault but stopped short of condemning the regime for the massacre. 

“The UK is clear that we do not support a major military operation in Rafah without a plan to protect the hundreds of thousands of civilians who remain there. The fastest way to end the conflict is to secure a deal that gets the hostages out and allows for a pause in the fighting in Gaza. We must then work with our international partners to turn that pause into a long-term sustainable ceasefire,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.

The government of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is under pressure to halt arms supplies to Israel over the regime’s brutal onslaught on Gaza which has claimed the lives of more than 36,000 Palestinians since early October. 

“monstrous failure of humanity”

Britain’s former Labour Party leader described Israel’s attack on the camp as a “monstrous failure of humanity”.

“Palestinian children should wake up feeling excited to go to school and play with their friends. Instead, for those murdered in Rafah, their last moments on this earth were filled with unimaginable fear as bombs rained down on their tents. What a monstrous failure of humanity,” Jeremy Corbyn wrote on X. 

Israel’s bombing of the tent camp clearly demonstrates that it is making a mockery of justice amid the ICJ ruling. 

Israel’s horrible crime against civilians in the Rafah neighborhood indicates that the regime of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has no scruples about violating international humanitarian law. 

Israel has perpetrated appalling atrocities in the Gaza Strip with impunity over the past months in the face of unwavering support from Western countries, in particular the United States. 

Israeli officials must be held to account for committing despicable crimes against Palestinians. 

Western officials who continue to support Israel are also complicit in the regime’s brutalities.  

Israel is killing Palestinian civilians because it has been unable to defeat resistance groups in the battlefield.

The Israeli army has suffered humiliating defeats at the hands of Hamas amid growing support for the resistance movement. 

The Israeli bombing of the tent camp was carried out in revenge for Israel’s failure to bring the Palestinian resistance to its knees.  

At the weekend, Hamas fired missiles toward Tel Aviv. It also killed and captured Israeli soldiers during fighting in a tunnel in northern Gaza which is a show of resilience after nearly eight months into Israel's massive air, sea, and ground assaults.