By Athena Papakosta

For “tragic accident” said the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, after the bombing of a refugee camp 2 kilometers northwest of the town of Rafah, in Tal al-Sultan, on Sunday night. According to Mr. Netanyahu, who addressed the Israeli parliament, it is “vital” that Israel has, to date, taken “every possible precaution” to… protect civilians by claiming that their death is for Israel ” tragedy” and for Hamas “strategy”.

In the horrifying images circulating around the world, one can see firsthand the terror, despair and pain of displaced civilians who settled in the camp south of the Gaza Strip to be… safe.

There is no official death toll with the latest reports of at least 45 people who died tragically in their sleep – among them women, the elderly and even children, who were inside the tents in which they were trapped and burned alive, when after the bombings a fire broke out.

The target of the Israeli Armed Forces (IDF) was Hamas infrastructure and more specifically, according to what the Israeli army said, two of its high-ranking officials were neutralized. However, the Red Crescent said Sunday’s airstrikes targeted displaced persons’ tents near UN facilities.

“Unfortunately, something went tragically wrong,” said the Israeli prime minister, stressing that an investigation into the strike has already begun.

On Monday morning, barefoot children walked among the rubble as searches for bodies continued and families prepared to bury their dead, just 24 hours before the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to halt its military operations in the Gaza Strip.

More than 85% of the population has found refuge in the south of the Palestinian enclave. However, since the beginning of May when the Israeli operations began in Rafah, a million civilians have been moved again, following the orders of the Israeli armed forces, while to this day the Israeli troops have not yet moved towards the suffocating center of the city.

The international community – in addition to the dead – is also counting its endurance, but Israel insists on continuing the war until “total victory”. French President Emmanuel Macron said he was outraged, EU High Representative Josep Borrell horrified while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Netanyahu to account.

Qatar, one of the main mediators between Israel and Hamas, warned that the new IDF strike could prove to be an obstacle to negotiations to reach an agreement. According to Israeli media, Hamas has decided to withdraw from the new round of indirect negotiations that was to begin within the current week.

At the same time, both Jordan and Egypt condemned the attack.

After all, Israel-Egypt relations, two countries that have been in a peace agreement for decades, are at their nadir since the day the Israeli army’s operations in Rafah began. The situation got out of control yesterday, Monday, when there was an exchange of fire between Israeli and Egyptian soldiers with a member of the Egyptian armed forces losing his life at the Rafah crossing and the armed forces of the two countries conducting an investigation into the incident.

For its part, the United States, after a delay of hours, took the position emphasizing that Israel must take every possible precaution to protect civilians but defended its “right”, as they said, “to go after Hamas”.

And today amid excuses, horror and international outcry Ireland, Norway and Spain expected to set into force the recognition of the Palestinian state