Gaza health officials said at least 35 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack on a tent city on Sunday that the Israeli military said targeted two senior Hamas officials.
The attack targeted the humanitarian area of Rafah, and Israeli forces had previously instructed displaced Palestinians to flee the attack, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The health ministry said most of the 35 dead were women and children, and that the death toll could rise with “countless others” trapped under rubble.
The attack came just days after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to halt its operations in Rafah, the last major settlement in the Gaza Strip not under Israeli military overrun.
Israeli forces are slowly advancing into the city of Rafah despite strong warnings from the Biden administration, who warned earlier this month that they would halt military aid deliveries to the country if Israel invades the city without a plan approved by U.S. leaders to limit civilian casualties.
More than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are believed to have sought refuge in Rafah, with more than 80 percent of the entire population displaced. The United Nations has said civilians are struggling to access humanitarian aid and famine has begun in parts of the Gaza Strip.
More than 120 relief trucks arrived in Rafah from Egypt on Sunday, the first since Israeli forces seized the checkpoint earlier this month. It was not immediately clear whether local relief groups would have access to humanitarian supplies, but The Associated Press reported.Fighting in the region has made it difficult to carry out humanitarian aid efforts.
Rafah and much of southern Gaza have been largely cut off from humanitarian aid since the Israeli military launched a limited operation into Rafah earlier this month. A U.S.-built floating dock has begun delivering some aid to the area, but aid groups say it is far less than promised and that there are not enough trucks to distribute the supplies properly.
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