Live updates: Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, deadly Rafah strike sparks global outcry (2024)

The Israeli military is looking into the possibility that Sunday's strike on Rafah may have unintentionally set off possible stored weapons in a nearby compound and a large fire that decimated part of a camp housing displaced Palestinians, according to spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari.

Hagari described it as one of several possibilities and did not provide any verifiable evidence to bolster the claim.

He also said Israel is assessing social media footage from the night of the strike that appears to show secondary explosions.

Hagari thenplayed the audio of an allegedly intercepted call, described by the Israel Defense Forces as "between two Gazans about the strike in Rafah."

An unidentified speaker says an ammunition warehouse exploded, causing secondary explosions.The unknown speaker also said the Israeli strike was "small" and did not create a large crater.

CNN cannot independently verify the authenticity of the audio, when it was recorded, or what information the speakers in the audio had.

Hagari said the incident was being investigated bythe General Staff's Fact-Finding and Assessment Mechanism who he said would conduct a transparent investigation.

CNN posed a follow-up question to Hagari, about whether Israel could confirm that none of the civilians killed were killed in the initial Israeli strike, only in the ensuing secondary explosions or the fire.

Hagari could not confirm that, repeating that the investigation was ongoing.

Protesters in cities across Europe gathered to voice opposition to the deadly strike carried out Sunday by Israel on a camp housing displaced people in Rafah in southern Gaza.

In Paris, a huge crowd congregated in Place de la République, a famous spot for protests. The demonstrators then marched to the nearby Canal Saint Martin, according to a CNN producer in Paris.

Large crowds also gathered outside the home of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on London's Downing Street.

In social media videos, they could be heard chanting slogans, "Blood on your hands" and "Stop arming Israel" in the direction of Downing Street.

Sunak has faced intense pressure in recent months from campaigners and opposition lawmakers to stop selling arms to Israel.

In Italy, at least 1,000 protesters occupied Bologna's main train station, according to the authority of the train station.

The protesters marched from the university district to the station and caused delays across the region, according to Italy’s national railway company.

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Tuesday that Sunday’s airstrike that killed dozens of people at a camp for displaced Palestinians in Rafah, Gaza, did not cross President Joe Biden's red line.

Kirby added that he had “no policy changes to speak to” when asked if this strike would change policy – but emphasized that this strike “just happened.”

At least 45 people were killed and more than 200 others injured after a fire broke out at the camp following the strike on Sunday, most of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and Palestinian medics.

When asked whether the president has seen some of the images from Rafah over the weekend, Kirby said he could not speak on that but that the president has been “kept apprised throughout the weekend.”

Footage obtained by CNN showed the camp in flames, with scores of men, women and children frantically trying to find cover from the nighttime assault. Burned bodies, including those of children, could be seen being pulled by rescuers from the wreckage.

Pressed on whether Israel tanks seen in central Rafah constitute a major ground operation, Kirby pointed to comments from the Israelis saying that they are operating in Rafah in a “targeted” and “precise” way.

“That's what the Israelis have said, we're not on the ground,” Kirby told reporters.

At least 940,000 people have been displaced from Rafah in the past three weeks as a result of "the intensification of hostilities and issuance of evacuation orders" by Israeli forces, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).

"Attacks on Rafah have continued unabated, and civilians displaced by hostilities lack shelter, they lack food, they lack water and other supplies essential to their human survival," UNOCHA said in a statement Tuesday read by Deputy UN spokesman Farhan Haq.

"While the Kerem Shalom crossing remains open in principle, it is extremely difficult for aid organizations to access from the Gaza side due to the hostilities, challenging logistical conditions, and complex coordination procedures," UNOCHA said, citing aid workers in Gaza.

At least 29 Palestinians have been killed in two separate Israeli attacks in Rafah on Tuesday, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health and the Emergency Committee of the Rafah Governorate.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told CNN on Tuesday that its forces are "operating to dismantle Hamas military and administrative capabilities."

"In stark contrast to Hamas' intentional attacks on Israeli men, women and children, the IDF follows international law and takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm," the IDF added.

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said his staff are "terrified" and are packing up and moving following strikes in Tal al-Sultan in the early hours of Tuesday.

Lazzarini said the main offices of the UN in Gaza are in the Tal al-Sultan area and that most of the staff could not make it to work.

“UNRWA running out of medical supplies and basic medicines. Little to no electricity with very patchy internet as the telecommunications network continues to be interrupted. People search for safety to no avail," he said.

Some context: Officials in Gaza and residents said an Israeli attack happened at around 3 a.m. on Tuesday (local time) in Tal al-Sultan camp in western Rafah, hitting three tents and killing at least eight people.

CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment.

Residents of the Tal al-Sultan displacement camp in western Rafah have recounted to CNN the horrifying scenes that followed an Israeli strike Tuesday, which according to Palestinian and UN officials killed eight people.

Video of the aftermath from a CNN stringer shows torn up tents, burnt sheets of metal and a clutter of furniture and clothing thrown on the ground. Walls are pierced with holes and the wooden structures holding up the tents are completely damaged.

CNN has reached out to the IDF regarding the strike, but has not received a response.

One resident, Hind Al-Ashqar, told CNN she was asleep with her family when she awoke to the sound of her neighbors screaming.

“Our children were terrified; I have a 5-year-old that was so horrified. We were all scared, children and adults,” she said.

Al-Ashqar’s daughter Ayat said she ran out of their tent to check on their neighbors, some of whom were her relatives, only to find them dead on the ground.

“I was so terrified to see the remains of people. We have been displaced and living in nylon tents. We see remains and body parts of martyrs, we see the strikes and shrapnel hitting us. If we were in our homes, we wouldn’t be afraid of shrapnel. But inside tents, any shrapnel can hit us and even burn us,” Ayat continued.

Another resident, Imad, pulled out the remains of a person while rummaging through the torn-up tents, saying “this is the safe place they talk about."

Another resident, Mohammed, told CNN people were asleep when they were killed, including his cousin. He said he has been picking up dead bodies of children and body parts since the morning, pointing to his blood-stained shirt.

“Instead of waking up and saying thank God, we woke up and picked up body parts…. every day there is a war. Enough is enough…the whole world is living freely and happily except us. Why? How is the whole world unable to stop Israel and Netanyahu?” he said.

A displaced woman Suhad told a CNN stringer she had been sheltering in a nearby camp when she heard there had been a strike on her brother's camp.

“I didn’t sleep all night. I was told he was martyred, then he wasn’t. He was martyred, then he wasn’t.

She said her brother’s four daughters, the youngest three months old, survived but were injured.

CNN stringer video from the scene shows dozens of people dismantling the remains of their makeshift tents, gathering what’s left of their belongings and loading them onto trucks and donkey carts. They told a CNN stringer on the ground that they are forced to flee again, some for the sixth time, out of fear of being killed.

"We were in the North, they struck our home, and my dad was martyred. They said go east of the valley, we went to Nuseirat. They hit Nuseirat, we fled to Khan Younis. They entered Khan Younis, we fled to Rafah. After they entered Rafah, we wanted to go back to Khan Younis. God knows where we shall go next. There is no safe place in Gaza," Mohammed said.

Another man, wearing a gray baseball cap, said, "For God's sake, look at us, show us some respect. We want nothing from you. We want to live like in all other countries. We want freedom. We want stability... We are not beggars waiting for aid. The people of Palestine are not a field for experimentation. Enough, enough."

Thetemporary pier constructed by the US militaryto transport aid into Gaza broke apart in heavy seas on Tuesday in a major blow to the American-led effort to create a maritime corridor for humanitarian supplies into the war-torn enclave, according to four US officials,

Part of the pier, which consists of a narrow causeway to drive aid into Gaza and a wider parking area to drop off supplies transported by ship, disconnected on Tuesday, the officials said. The parking area will have to be reconnected to the causeway before the pier can be used again.

The setback came one day after heavy seas forced two small US Army vessels to beach in Israel, according to US Central Command, while another two vessels broke free of their moorings and were anchored near the pier.

The effort to reassemble the causeway and connect it once again to the parking area will resume when sea conditions allow, officials said.

The temporary pier, called the Joint Logistics Over the Shore (JLOTS), requires very good sea conditions to operate. CNN reported previously that JLOTS can only be operated safely in a maximum of 3-foot waves and winds less than approximately 15 miles per hour.

Heavier sea conditions delayed the deployment of the pier for several weeks, as the system sat docked in the Israeli port of Ashdod waiting for favorable conditions.

The US has stressed that the temporary pier is only meant to augment humanitarian shipments going through the land crossings between Israel and Gaza.

On Thursday, Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, deputy commander of US Central Command, said 820 metric tonnes of aid had been delivered through the pier to the Gaza beach, where the United Nations was responsible for distributing it to the Palestinian population

Daniel Dieckhaus, the director of USAID’s levant response management team, told reporters Thursday that there were “thousands and thousands of tonnes” of aid waiting in Cyprus to be delivered through the maritime corridor. But those shipments are now paused with the temporary pier inoperable.

The United States “will be watching” the results of the Israeli investigation into the deadly strike and subsequent fire in Rafah “closely,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Tuesday, saying that the findings should be “presented openly and transparently to us and to the world.”

Miller said the US will withhold its assessments until it sees the final findings of Israel's investigation.

“As soon as the United States saw reports of this incident, we reached out to the government of Israel to express our deep concern over what happened, ask for more information and urge them to undertake a full investigation,” he said.

“Earlier today, Israel announced the results of a preliminary investigation and said that this strike was carried out using the smallest bomb in their arsenal, targeting terrorists 1.7 kilometers (1 mile) away from the Al Mawasi area, where this fire took place,” Miller said.

“The IDF is continuing to investigate this matter (and has) promised that its investigation will be swift, comprehensive and transparent. We will be watching those results closely. And we will continue to emphasize to Israel their obligation to comply fully with international humanitarian law, minimize the impact of their operations on civilians, and maximize the flow of humanitarian assistance to those in need,” he said.

Miller added that it is important to “find out what the actual cause of the fire is,” noting the Israeli claim that there might a weapons depot nearby.

Some background: At least 45 people were killed and 200 others were injured in the strike. Video from the site showed scenes of horror: charred bodies being pulled from rubble, a man holding the headless body of a child, fire raging from tents in the background.

At least 29Palestinianshave been killed in two separate Israeli attacks in Rafah on Tuesday,according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health and the Emergency Committee of the Rafah Governorate.

The first attack happened at around 3 a.m. on Tuesday (local time) in Tal al-Sultan displacement camp in western Rafah when a strike hit three tents, according to residents and a CNN stringer in Rafah. At least eight people werekilled and transferred to a field hospital in Tal Al-Sultan camp, according to the committee.

The Tal al-Sultan camp islocated next to a UN warehouse, whose walls were damaged from the strike according to video from a CNN stringer on the ground.The camp that was hit on Tuesday is about 150 meters away from another displacementcamp that an Israeli strike and ensuing firehit just two days ago, killing at least 45 people and wounding more than 200 others.

Video from CNN's stringer on the ground shows displaced people dismantling their makeshift living arrangements in Tal al-Sultan camp, and gathering their belongings and evacuating the area on trucks and donkey carts.

Gaza's Ministry of Health says a second attack happened on Tuesday afternoon local time when an Israeli strike hita displacement campin the southern coastal town of Al-Mawasi, killing at least 21 people, including 13 women, and injuring at least 64 people with 10 in critical condition.

However, the Israeli military has denied striking a humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi.

It told CNN in a statement: "Contrary to the reports from the last few hours, the IDF did not strike in the humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi."

CNN has followed up, asking if the IDF has struck elsewhere in Al-Mawasi, such as the UN warehouse that is in the vicinity of the camp, but has not received a reply.

This post has been updated to include a response from the IDF.