Palestinians fleeing from the southern Gaza city of Rafah during an Israeli ground and air offensive in the city, May 28, 2024. Defence experts who've reviewed debris images from an Israeli airstrike that ignited a deadly fire in a camp for displaced Palestinians question why Israel didn't use smaller, more precise weapons when so many civilians were nearby.
Gaza medical sources said the 12 Palestinians, whom it said were civilians, had been killed and an unspecified number of others wounded in an Israeli airstrike as they tried to recover the body of a civilian in the centre of Rafah. Israel has kept up raids on Rafah despite an order by the International Court of Justice, the top UN court, to halt the attacks.
The Israeli military said a soldier had been killed in fighting in northern Gaza, bringing to 292 Israel's combat losses since its first Gaza ground incursion on Oct. 20.In an overnight call with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant underlined the continuing importance of Israeli operations in the Rafah area"due to concrete information regarding hostages held there".
The United States, Israel's closest ally, reiterated its opposition to a major ground offensive in Rafah on Tuesday but said it did not believe such an operation was underway.