Israel’s latest strikes near Gaza’s southern city of Rafah could hinder talks towards a truce and hostage release deal, mediator nation Qatar has said.
Gaza health authorities say at least 40 people were killed in the air strikes on the camp for displaced civilians.
Israel’s army said its aircraft “struck a Hamas compound in Rafah”, killing two senior officials for the Palestinian militant group in the West Bank.
Qatar’s foreign ministry voiced “concern that the bombing will complicate ongoing mediation efforts and hinder reaching an agreement for an immediate and permanent ceasefire”.
Qatar, alongside the United States and Egypt, has been engaged in months of talks aimed at securing a truce deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
But behind-the-scenes negotiations reached a stalemate earlier this month as Israel sent ground forces into Rafah.
Qatar, which has hosted Hamas’s political leadership since 2012 with the blessing of the United States, condemned the Israeli bombing as a “dangerous violation of international law”.
The foreign ministry called on the international community to act urgently to prevent Israel from “implementing its plans to forcibly displace (Palestinians) from the city, which has become a final refuge for hundreds of thousands” of people.
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Kuwait’s foreign ministry also decried the Israeli attack on the camp housing displaced Palestinians near Rafah, saying the it exposed Israel’s “blatant war crimes and unprecedented genocide to the whole world”.
The Gulf monarchy called for “immediate and firm intervention by the international community”.
Egypt condemned what it called the “deliberate bombardment by Israeli forces of displaced peoples’ tents”.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry issued a statement calling on Israel to “implement the measures ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concerning an immediate cessation of military operations” in Rafah.
The ministry condemned the strike as “a new flagrant violation of the provisions of international humanitarian law”.
It deplored the “tragic event” and denounced the “targeting of defenceless civilians” and “a systematic policy aimed at widening the scope of death and destruction in the Gaza Strip to make it uninhabitable”.
Jordan also expressed its condemnation, accusing Israel of committing “ongoing war crimes”.
Amman said the bombardment in Rafah “defies the rulings of the International Court of Justice and constitutes a severe violation of international law and international humanitarian law”.
