CNN
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The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says at least 22 people were killed in a strike that hit civilians sheltering in southern Gaza on Friday.
The strike hit the tents of displaced people in the Palestinian town of Mawasi, where many Palestinians have fled in recent weeks due to extended Israeli operations in Rafah. The nearby Red Cross field hospital received 22 bodies and 45 injured, the ICRC said.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society blamed Israel for the strike, saying it was dealing with extensive casualties. The Gaza Ministry of Health said that 25 people were killed and 50 wounded in the attack. CNN is unable to confirm the casualty figures.
The Israeli military said the incident was under review but initial inquiries found “no indication” it was behind the strike in Mawasi. It has identified part of Mawasi – on the coast – as a humanitarian zone.
According to the ICRC, one of its facilities was damaged in the strike.
In a post on X, the ICRC did not attribute responsibility for the strike but said that “The ICRC office – which is surrounded by hundreds of displaced civilians living in tents – was damaged by nearby shelling in Gaza. Firing so dangerously close to humanitarian structures puts the lives of civilians and humanitarians at risk.”
It said “heavy-caliber projectiles” had landed within meters of the facility.
The ICRC said that the incident was one of several in recent days after stray bullets had hit ICRC structures.
It said parties to the conflict had an obligation to take “all feasible precautions to avoid harm to civilians.”
Tens of thousands of people have fled to Mawasi in recent weeks as Israeli operations have expanded in Rafah, just to the south. In recent days, Israeli military operations have pushed towards the west and north of Rafah, according to accounts from inside Gaza, and the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) says it has encountered considerable resistance from Hamas fighters.
