FLASH
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Israel is stepping up its airstrikes today in Rafah, despite international outcry over the deadly bombing of a crowded IDP camp in the city, prompting an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the situation in that sector of the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, Spain, Norway and Ireland will officially recognize the Palestinian state today, during a press conference in Brussels, as they announced last week, prompting an angry reaction from the Israeli government.
On the ground, AFP teams in the city reported in the early morning hours that fresh shelling had begun in central and western Rafah, on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli army has been conducting ground operations since early May.
The new airstrikes came amid international protests and condemnation of the bombing of a camp for displaced people on Sunday night, which killed 45 people and wounded 249 others, according to Gaza's health ministry. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the bombing a "tragic accident".
The Israeli military said it was investigating the civilian deaths after initially saying it had targeted two Hamas commanders with "precision munitions".
"Outraged", the US government called on its ally Israel to "take all measures to protect civilians", Canadian diplomacy expressed "horror", French President Emmanuel Macron "indignation".
About 10,000 people gathered outside the Israeli embassy in the French capital to denounce the bombing. The compact crowd carried Palestinian flags and placards reading slogans such as "don't kill a child, neither Israeli nor Palestinian," "Stop the bombing, freedom for Palestine," "We are Rafa's children," "Rafa, Gaza. , we are with you" and so on.
"I condemn Israel's actions that killed dozens of innocent civilians who only sought to defend themselves from this murderous war. There is no safe place in Gaza. This horror must be stopped", said the Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres.
"To say it was a 'mistake' means nothing to those who were killed, to those who mourn, to those who are trying to save lives," said UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths.
The UN Security Council convened for an emergency meeting this afternoon (New York time), diplomatic sources said.
The emergency, closed-door meeting was called at the request of Algeria, a non-permanent member of the Security Council representing Arab countries, and was supported by Slovenia, the sources explained.
The UN has called for a "full and transparent" investigation into the bombing of the Rafah camp.
The Palestinian Civil Defense reported several bodies "burnt" in the fire that engulfed the Barkasat displaced persons camp, run by UNRA, northwest of Rafah.
"We saw burnt, dismembered (…) mutilated bodies, children, women and elderly people" who were injured, said Mohammed al-Mughir, a Civil Defense worker in the Gaza Strip. 'Hell on Earth'
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