White House says attack on Rafah camp didn't cross Biden's red line and there are no policy changes
From CNN's Samantha Waldenberg
White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirbytold reporters Tuesdaythat Israel's airstrike that killed dozens of people at a camp for displaced Palestinians in Rafah did not cross President Joe Biden's red line.
“We don’t want to see a major ground operation, we haven’t seen that at this point,” Kirby said in Tuesday’s press briefing when asked how this attack does not cross the president’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 wounded after a fire broke out at the camp following the strike on Sunday, most of them women and children, according to Gaza's 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 CNNshowed 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 Israeli 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.
Houthi ballistic missiles strike Greek-owned ship in Red Sea, US military says
From CNN staff
A Greek-owned and operated merchant ship in the Red Sea reported being struck by three anti-ship ballistic missiles that were launched Tuesday by Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen, according to US Central Command.
Merchant Vessel Laax continued on its voyage and there were no injuries reported, CENTCOM said in a statement.
During the same time, US forces destroyed five Houthi drones over the Red Sea that were launched from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen and “presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels in the region,” the statement added.
The Iran-backed Houthis have been attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea, the Strait of Bab al-Mandab and the Gulf of Aden since Israel launched its war on Hamas. The Houthis say the attacks target Israel-linked ships in retaliation for Israel's bombardments of Gaza.
Some background: The Houthis form part of Iran’s“Axis of Resistance”— an anti-Israel and anti-Western alliance of regional militias including Hamas in Gaza andHezbollahin Lebanon.
Doctor describes sleepless nights and "very miserable" situation in Rafah
From CNN's Sarah EL Sirgany and Mohammed Tawfeeq
The situation in Rafah is "very miserable," according to a doctor currently working in the southern Gaza city.
"All night, we couldn't sleep," Dr. Safa Jaber told Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF(Médecins Sans Frontières), in an Arabic audio message shared by the group on X with English subtitles.
"Allnight we heard the clashes, the bombings and the sound of the rockets. Nobody knows what is happening exactly. There are clashes in two different locations inTal al-Sultanarea, inthe north and the south," Jaber said.
"I am speechless,I cannot even describe what is happening. We are scared for ourselves and for our children. We are not expecting this to happen so suddenly."
"Everyone is very terrified. Where shall we go?We are heading to the so-called safe zone. But there is no safe space here after what happened the day before yesterday with the burning of tents."
"We are forced tostay in tents where we will be exposed tothe heat, sand. We have to struggle to find water every day; both clean and saltwater; the basic services that every human being needs to stay alive. The situation is very miserable," Jaber added.
"There is no shelter, no life, no future." Displaced Palestinians in Rafah wonder where to move next
From Mohammed Al-Sawalhi, Sarah El Sirgany and Abeer Salman and Hira Humayun
Displaced Palestinians are attempting to evacuate following devastating Israeli strikes in southern Gaza – but they don't know where to go.
Speaking to a CNN stringer in Khan Younis, north of Rafah, people said they did not know where else to go, as they tried to head north toward Deir El-Balah in central Gaza.
Video from the stringer shows mattresses, wooden panels, chairs, and various other belongings piled on top of vehicles and donkey carts.
"What’s happening now, whether in Rafah, Khan Younis or Gaza in general, is the disastrous displacement of people. There is no shelter, no life, no future," said Ansar Mahdi, who said she's been displaced four times.
"The displacement is repugnant. When people move from one place to another, they want to live. They need money. They’ve lost their savings," she said.
"They told us to move from the north to the south. We did. We stayed in tents in abysmal conditions. No words can convey what we went through," she added.
"Where else can we go? Where the next displacement would be?" Mahdi asked.
The roads, lined by tents and piles of garbage, were busy with people and vehicles moving in search of empty spaces.
Walking on crutches, Mohamed Jarbou, said, "The elderly have been humiliated. Children humiliated. What’s wrong? They are all civilians. The resistance is not here. The resistance is fighting somewhere else. We are displaced. Why are you hitting the displaced people?"
Recent Israeli strikes in Rafah have forced the already displaced people to flee.
More than two dozen peoplewere killed in Israel strikeson two camps on Tuesday, according to Palestinian officials.
The Israeli military denied striking a humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi, telling CNN, "Contrary to the reports from the last few hours, the IDF did not strike in the Humanitarian Area in Al-Mawasi.”
Israeli military says it's investigating if Rafah strike set off possible stored weapons near target
From CNN's Jen Deaton
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.
"Our investigation seeks to determine what may have caused such a large fire to ignite.We are looking into all possibilities, including the option that weapons stored in a compound next to our target, which we did not know of, may have ignited as a result of the strike," Hagari said in a press conference Tuesday.
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.
"Our war is against Hamas, not the people of Gaza.Which is why we convey deep sorrow for this tragic loss of life," he said.
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.
“They kept bleeding until they died.” Residents of Tal al-Sultan camp recount horror of Israeli strike
From Tareq El Helou in Rafah and CNN’s Abeer Salman and Zeena Saifi
Residents of the Tal al-Sultan displacement camp in western Rafah have recounted to CNN the scenes that followed an Israeli strike Tuesday, which killed eight people according to Palestinian and UN officials.
Video of the aftermath from a CNN stringer shows torn-up tents, burnt sheets of metal, and 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.
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.
“They kept bleeding until they died,” she said.
“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."
“All those that were killed were civilians. No one was a fighter,” he said.
Another resident, Mohammed, told CNN people were asleep when they were killed, including his cousin. He said he had 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.
"I think no one wanted to tell me because I’m pregnant. So I came by this morning and saw that my brother and his wife were killed,” she said.
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."
Israeli military kills at least 29 people in two separate attacks near Rafah, Palestinian officialssay
From Tareq El Helou in Rafah and CNN’s Abeer Salman and Zeena Saifi
The Israeli military killed at least 29Palestiniansin two separate attacks in the Rafah area on Tuesday,according to the city's Health Ministry.
A strike hit three tents in Tal al-Sultan displacement camp in western Rafah at around 3 a.m. on Tuesday (local time), according to residents and a CNN stringer in Rafah.
At least eight people werekilled, 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.
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.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said his staff are "terrified" and are packing up and moving following the strikes.
An Israeli strike hita displacement campin the southern coastal town of Al-Mawasi on Tuesday afternoon, killing at least 21 people, including 13 women, and wounding at least 64 people with 10 in critical condition, Gaza's Health Ministry says.
Israeli denial: 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.
