The United Nations Security Council has convened an emergency session scheduled for Tuesday following a devastating Israeli airstrike on a displaced persons camp in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, newswire AFP reported.

“The closed-door meeting was requested by Algeria, which is currently a non-permanent member of the council,” AFP reported quoting diplomats.

“Despite our utmost efforts not to harm innocent civilians, last night there was a tragic mistake,” Netanyahu said Monday in an address to Israel’s parliament. “We are investigating the incident and will obtain a conclusion because this is our policy.”

The strike has intensified international criticism against Israel for its conflict with Hamas, with even its closest allies expressing outrage over civilian casualties.

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Sunday night’s attack seemingly one of the most lethal of the conflict, contributed to raising the total Palestinian death toll in the war to over 36,000, as reported by the Gaza Health Ministry.

Also Read: ‘Expect more surprises’: Iran-backed Hezbollah warns Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu amid war on Palestine

Hamas triggered the war with its Oct. 7 attack on Israel, in which Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people and seized some 250 hostages. Hamas still holds about 100 hostages and the remains of around 30 others after most of the rest were released during a cease-fire last year, AP reported.

Around 80% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have fled their homes. Severe hunger is widespread, and UN officials say parts of the territory are experiencing famine.

Global condemnation is mountingover Israel’s Sunday airstrike on a camp for displaced people in Rafah that killed at least 45 people, many of whom were women and children.

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the strike, which his military said killed two senior Hamas officials, a “tragic mistake.”
• The strike came days after the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to halt its offensive in the city, adding to the unprecedented level of diplomatic pressure that Netanyahu is facing over the war in Gaza.
• Qatar said Israel’s strike could “hinder” negotiations aiming for the release of hostages and reaching a ceasefire, which are set to resume Tuesday.

• Here’s some of the international reactions:

  • “Horror must stop”: UN chief Antònio Guterres issued a blistering condemnation. “There is no safe place in Gaza. This horror must stop,” he said. The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting to discuss the strike on Tuesday, according to a UN diplomat.
  • “Abomination”: UN relief chief Martin Griffiths criticized Netanyahu’s response to the attack. “Whether the attack was a war crime or a ‘tragic mistake’ for the people of Gaza, there is no debate. What happened last night was the latest – and possibly most cruel – abomination,” Griffiths said.
  • “Unbearable”: French President Emmanuel Macron said he was “outraged” by the strikes and called for a ceasefire. Germany described the “images of charred bodies, including children, from the airstrike” as “unbearable.” The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said Israel must implement the ICJ ruling. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called the strike a “massacre” and said his country “will do everything” in its power to hold Israeli officials accountable.
  • “Heartbreaking”: A US National Security Council spokesperson said the strike was “heartbreaking,” adding that the United States was “actively engaging” with officials in Israel to determine what happened. The spokesperson also said “Israel has a right to go after Hamas, and we understand this strike killed two senior Hamas terrorists who are responsible for attacks against Israeli civilians.”
  • “Complete disregard for the lives of civilians”: Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) strongly denounced the strike and called for an “immediate and sustained ceasefire” in Gaza. MSF said the airstrike on the camp “shows the complete disregard for the lives of civilians.” MSF nurse activity manager Gaia Giletta said from Gaza that “we are shocked by the continuous attacks on civilians, and we have no word to describe the horror of what we’ve seen here.”
  • “Hell on earth”: “The images from last night are a testament to how Rafah has turned into hell on earth,” said Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). The scenes from Rafah last night are harrowing, Lazzarini said, and some victims “were reportedly burnt to death.”
  • Strike could “hinder” negotiations: Qatar said Israel’s strike on the Rafah camp could “hinder” negotiations aiming for the release of hostages and reaching a ceasefire in Gaza. The Qatari foreign ministry said the strike is a “serious violation of international laws” and expressed concern that it “would complicate the ongoing mediation efforts.”

  This post has been updated after additional review of the translation from Hebrew to English, to clarify the wording used by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he referred to a deadly Israeli strike on Rafah, Gaza.The word ‘error’ was originally translated as ‘mistake’.

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