Around two dozen killed in Israeli strike on humanitarian zone near Gaza’s Rafah

The attack on Tuesday struck the al-Mawasi area near Rafah, which had been designated a “humanitarian zone” by Israeli forces.

Israel’s military has encouraged Palestinians in Rafah to seek shelter in the area, as it continues its offensive on the southern Gaza city.

According to Reuters, at least 12 of those killed are women and those in the area were previously displaced from other areas of Gaza.

Speaking after the attack, Palestinian presidential spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, called the new attack a massacre, and called for the implementation of the International Court of Justice decision last week for Israel to halt its offensive on Rafah.

Tuesday’s strike follows Sunday’s widely condemned Israeli attack on a displacement camp in Rafah, which killed at least 45 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

Another 250 were wounded, some seriously, including people with severe burns and severed limbs.

Images of headless children prompted widespread condemnation of Israel.

Footage of the al-Mawasi strike, which has been verified by Al Jazeera, shows several lifeless bodies lying on the ground, some covered with blankets.

Israel’s offensive on Rafah is proceeding despite reservations by its supporters in Washington and Europe.

The US described the attack on Rafah on Sunday as “heartbreaking” and had previously called on Israel not to launch a military offensive on the city, which is home to hundreds of thousands of civilians displaced from elsewhere in Gaza.

Rafah had been spared the worst of the carnage Israel has unleashed on the Gaza Strip after the start of the war in October.