Palestinians searching through charred remains described a “horrifying” scene of people running to escape the blaze that swept through a tent camp in Rafah, as Israeli forces pushed deeper into the southern Gaza city on Tuesday despite mounting global condemnation.
Israeli tanks reached the city center for the first time, according to NBC News’ crew on the ground, defying international pressure to halt an offensive that has sent nearly 1 million people fleeing Rafah and left those still sheltering there facing dire conditions and deadly attacks.
Palestinians who survived Sunday’s strike — which local officials said killed at least 45 people in an area where displaced civilians were sheltering in tents — described a desperate bid to escape the blaze, while others sought to identify their loved ones among the remains.
“All the people fled from the tents running. The sound was horrifying and deafening,” one woman said as people around her, including young children, searched through what was left behind of the scorched tent camp in Rafah’s Tal al-Sultan neighborhood.
“This place is full of innocent people and children,” she said. “And they are martyred.”
“My cousins and the entire family were wiped off the civil record,” said one man who identified himself as Mahmoud Diab Mouhamed Talal Elataar. “No one is left.”
Elataar, 20, said he raced to the site after hearing about Sunday’s airstrike in a bid to ensure his loved ones were okay, but “no one is alive.” On Monday, all he could do was search through the remains of those killed in hopes of being able to identify his family members.
An Israeli official told NBC News that preliminary information indicated the airstrike likely ignited a fuel tank, causing an explosion and fire that spread through the camp where displaced civilians were sheltering in tents and killed dozens of people, including children.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday the deadly incident was “tragic,” adding that it was under investigation. The Israel Defense Forces initially said it had targeted two senior Hamas leaders and did not strike a designated humanitarian area. But it said a full investigation would be conducted into “the deaths of civilians in the area of the strike.”
Earlier Sunday, Hamas’ military wing announced a missile barrage targeting Tel Aviv for the first time in many weeks, with the IDF saying eight projectiles were identified crossing from the Rafah area into Israeli territory.
The attack has left Israel — and its chief ally, the United States — increasingly isolated on the world stage. On Tuesday the United Nations Security Council was set to convene an emergency meeting, while a trio of European countries were to officially recognize an independent Palestinian state.
Sunday’s strike unfolded just days after the U.N.’s top court, the International Court of Justice, ordered Israel to immediately halt its offensive in Rafah, citing the “immediate risk” to Palestinians.
Images showed the area engulfed in flames as Palestinians ran for safety and sought to help the injured. Some of the video shared on social media showed extremely disturbing images, including burned corpses and a man holding what appeared to be the headless body of a small child.
A National Security Council spokesperson on Monday said the images were heartbreaking, as they warned Israel of its responsibility to protect civilians in a war that has so far seen more than 35,000 people killed in Gaza, according to local health officials.
Israel launched its offensive following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks, in which Israeli officials said some 1,200 people were killed and around 250 others taken hostage in a major escalation to the decadeslong conflict.
“Israel has a right to go after Hamas, and we understand this strike killed two senior Hamas terrorists who are responsible for attacks against Israeli civilians,” the NSC spokesperson said. “But as we’ve been clear, Israel must take every precaution possible to protect civilians.” They said the U.S. was in talks with the IDF to determine what happened.
President Joe Biden has previously threatened that the U.S. would suspend the shipment of certain arms if Israel launched a full-scale assault on Rafah, crossing Washington’s stated red line.
In the wake of the deadly strike, some Palestinians who had continued to seek shelter in Rafah began to flee the area in hope of finding safety further north in Gaza.
Abou Tarek Elkaferna said he and his family of 13 people felt they were once again “back at square one” after having been displaced several times throughout Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
Elkaferna said his family was among those to have fallen “under shelling” on Sunday night. “It was terrifying for the children,” he said.
After witnessing the horror of the strike, he said his family had decided to flee Rafah in a bid to reach Deir al-Balah, further north. But he said he did not believe his family ever reach safety until the war is brought to an end.
“Here was a safe zone. But what happened?” he said.
“A horrific scene.”
