An Israeli airstrike on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, killing dozens of displaced Palestinians, drew widespread international condemnation on Monday, with world leaders calling for an investigation into the attack and stepping up pressure on Israel to halt its military operations in the south.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday he was “outraged” by the explosion and called for “full respect for international law and an immediate ceasefire.”
“These operations must be stopped,” he said, referring to Sunday's attacks. “No area in Rafah is safe for Palestinian civilians.”
The attack came just two days after the International Court of Justice appeared to order Israel to immediately halt attacks on the city, and Israeli military legal officials said the attack was under review.
“It is shockingly clear that attacks on such densely populated civilian areas were entirely predictable in this outcome,” said Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Álvarez said at a press conference on Monday that he plans to call on other foreign ministers of European Union member states to support the International Court of Justice ruling against Israel and to take measures if Israel continues Operation Rafah.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Israel's actions in a post on X.
“There is no safe place in Gaza,” Guterres wrote. “This horror must stop.” Tor Wenesland, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, condemned the airstrikes, saying he was “deeply saddened by the deaths of so many women and children in areas where people have fled.”
German state television quoted Robert Harbeck, the country's vice chancellor, as saying Saturday that Israel's attack on Rafah was “against international law.” Senior German government officials have previously warned Israel to refrain from attacking Rafah, but Harbeck's comments appeared to signal a strengthening of Germany's long-standing pro-Israel stance.
“Israel must not carry out this attack, at least not in the same way as it has previously bombed refugee camps in the Gaza Strip,” Habeck said.
The Israeli military said the attack targeted a Hamas compound and used “precision weapons” to kill two Hamas officials, but Gaza's health ministry said the attack and subsequent blaze killed at least 45 people and injured more than 200.
A White House National Security Council spokesman confirmed in a statement that the attack killed two senior leaders responsible for the October 7 Israeli attack and said Israel had “the right to pursue Hamas.”
“But as we have been clear, Israel must take all precautions to protect civilians,” council spokesman Eduardo Maia Silva said, referring to the IDF, adding: “We are actively working with the IDF and partners on the ground to assess what happened, and we understand that the IDF is conducting an investigation.”
The attack drew criticism from aid groups such as the International Rescue Committee, which called it “horrifying” and said the area attacked was a “designated safe zone.” Israeli officials say the attack took place outside areas designated as safe for civilians. The International Rescue Committee also called for an end to Israeli attacks, a complete ceasefire, and the release of all hostages.
U.N. emergency relief coordinator Martin Griffiths took to social media to condemn the Israeli attacks and lamented aid agencies' struggles to assemble supplies on the scale needed, in a reference to Israeli forces' activities in southern Gaza.
“Such impunity cannot continue,” Griffiths said.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of UNRWA, the main UN aid agency for the Palestinians, described the footage emerging from Rafah as “evidence of how Rafah has become hell on earth.”
He said the agency was having difficulty contacting its team on the ground in Rafah, with some of its personnel still missing.
“UNRWA is doing everything in its power to ensure that the delivery of humanitarian assistance is not impeded, but with each passing day it becomes nearly impossible to provide assistance and protection,” Lazzarini wrote on X.
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said the ongoing attacks in Rafah “pose devastating danger to children who have sought refuge there”, adding that many have already suffered extreme loss and hardship.
“They must be protected along with what remains of the basic services and infrastructure they need to survive,” Russell wrote.