Israeli airstrike on Rafah could hinder mediation efforts

By Nathan Morley

Qatar says the latest Israeli airstrike on Rafah could hinder mediation efforts to reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza.

Palestinian officials say that at least 35 people died as intense fires burned through tents at a camp for displaced people in Rafah after an Israeli airstrike nearby.

Dozens were also reported injured – Palestinian officials called it a ‘massacre’. 

WAFA – the Palestinian news agency – reported Israeli forces fired about eight rockets toward a newly established camp crowded with thousands of displaced people.

The Israeli military said it did carry out a strike on a Hamas target in the area, but the details were still under investigation. Israel deems Rafah a last stronghold for Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip for the last seventeen years.

The airstrike came just hours after Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, fired a series of missiles from Rafah towards Tel Aviv in central Israel.