IDF says Rafah tent fire likely caused by secondary explosion
IDF said it targeted a compound 1.8 km from the designated humanitarian zone in northern Rafah and 180 metre from the tent camp which was later engulfed in a fire.
The IDF presented its preliminary investigation into a fire in a tent camp in Rafah where dozens of civilians were killed on Monday.
The IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said Israel targeted a compound 1.8 km from the designated humanitarian zone in northern Rafah and 180 metre from the tent camp which was later engulfed in a fire.
Two 17kg bombs were used to target the senior Hamas commanders in the compound, which then set off a fire in an adjacent compound.
The investigation could not, at this point, explain why a fire was set off in the nearby compound, but IDF suggested that weapons stored in the building could be an explanation. It was a “devastating incident, which we did not expect,” Hagari said.
“We are investigating what caused the fire that resulted in this tragic loss of life. An investigation is ongoing,” Hagari said, adding that the IDF targeted a “closed structure away from the tent area. There are no tents in the immediate vicinity.”
Hagari also suggested that the IDF is investigating a secondary explosion that might have caused the fire to spread to the tent camp, while pointing out that rocket launchers had been identified less than 50 metre from the camp.
“Following this strike, a large fire ignited, for reasons still being investigated. Our munition alone could not have ignited a fire of this size. 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,” he added.
Israel has been widely condemned for the strike on Sunday, with horrifying footage showing tents on fire and bodies carried out of the camp.
Hamas is yet to provide any evidence that an Israeli airstrike hit the camp, causing the “massacre” it claimed.
Israel has been condemned by the EU, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and a number of other countries following the incident, with new calls for on an immediate ceasefire and a halt to the IDF’s operation in Rafah.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he was “horrified” by the news coming out of Rafah with dozens of displaced persons, including small children, who had reportedly been killed.
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