Netanyahu calls civilian deaths in Gaza’s Rafah ‘tragic mistake’, over 36k Palestinians killed in strip

The Israeli raid on the Tal al-Sultan neighborhood of Rafah targeted a humanitarian zone filled with tents, where Israel’s military previously instructed displaced Palestinians to shelter from the ongoing war, the Gaza Health Ministry reported.

“Despite our utmost efforts not to harm innocent civilians, last night, there was a tragic mistake,” Netanyahu stated Monday in an address to Israel’s parliament.

“We are investigating the incident and will obtain a conclusion, because this is our policy.”

Gaza health officials announced most of the dead were women and children, and noted that the death toll is likely to rise as “countless” were trapped in rubble.

The strike was widely denounced, as criticism rises on the Israeli military operation in Rafah. A White House National Security Council spokesperson told Axios on Monday that the attack was “heartbreaking”.

The attack comes just days after the United Nations’s International Court of Justice ordered Israel to stop its operations in Rafah, the last remaining major settlement in Gaza that has not been invaded by Israel.

More than half of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people are believed to be sheltering in Rafah, and more than 80 percent of the territory’s population overall are displaced from their homes. The U.N. announced famine has begun in parts of the region as civilians struggle to get access to humanitarian aid.

Israel has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year.