At least 200 killed in Israel's recent attack on Rafah camp: UN agency

HAMILTON, Canada

The UN on Tuesday emphasized the grim picture following the Israeli airstrike on a camp in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday, saying that at least 200 people were killed.

"According to some international medical sources that our teams spoke to at least 200 people were killed in that attack, among them women and children," Juliette Touma, communications director of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) told reporters during a virtual news conference.

Emphasizing that the aftermath of the attack is "huge," she stressed that it "added to the general field fear of death."

Noting that more than a million people have left Rafah since May 6, Touma stated that the displacement is still ongoing.

She indicated that these individuals had been displaced several times before and that heavy bombardment in the area continued.

Adding that only 200 aid trucks have been able to pass through in the last three weeks, she said: "This is of course a drop in the ocean amid people's humanitarian needs, as they continue to immensely grow."

"What Gaza needs is 500 trucks and it should be a combination of commercial supplies and humanitarian supplies," she added.

At least 45 people were killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 250 injured in the strike. It occurred near the logistics base of the UNRWA in Tal al-Sultan, said the Gaza-based Government Media Office.

Israel's nearly eight-month war on Gaza has led to more than 36,000 deaths in the war-torn coastal enclave and has injured over 81,100 additional victims.

Israel's military campaign has turned much of the enclave of 2.3 million people into ruins, leaving most civilians homeless and at risk of famine.

Sunday's attack came despite a ruling by the International Court of Justice last week that ordered Israel to halt its offensive in Rafah where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the worsening conflict.