Israel bombs Rafah over 60 times in just 48 hours

The Israeli army launched over 60 attacks on Rafah within 48 hours after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered the Netanyahu government to halt its military offensive in the southern city of the Gaza Strip.

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor reported that in the 48 hours following the ICJ order, a series of Israeli rockets, airstrikes, and bombshells struck Rafah, where thousands of Palestinians had taken refuge but are now being ordered to evacuate.

"Thirteen Palestinians were killed in the 48 hours following the Court’s ruling, including six members of the Qishta family: an elderly mother, three of her children (two girls and one boy), an adult son, and his two children," the Geneva-based organisation stated.

The head of the 15-panel jury of the ICJ, Nawaf Salam on Friday ordered Israel to "immediately halt its military offensive and any other actions in the Rafah Governorate that may inflict conditions of life on the Palestinian group in Gaza that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part."

South Africa's lawyers had urged the ICJ for immediate action to halt Israel's attacks on Rafah. They argued that these attacks threatened the lives of the Palestinians. 

The Israeli onslaught continued relentlessly with even greater ruthlessness as a deadly missile attack unleashed a massacre on camps sheltering displaced civilians in Rafah, resulting in the deaths of over 30 people, including children who were beheaded and burned alive. 

Israel is deliberately targeting areas designated as humanitarian zones. While Tel Aviv claims these strikes aim to target Hamas fighters, they have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of innocent civilians.

The Gaza Health Ministry confirmed that at least 35 civilians were charred to death, with dozens more wounded. Women and children comprised the majority of the casualties.

Videos from the scene showed harrowing images of destruction, including a person holding the headless, burned body of a child as people searched the burning tents to rescue their loved ones.