TRANSCRIPT
Israel has carried out airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah just two days after a top United Nations court issued orders for it to halt attacks on the area designated for the displaced.
The Israeli military says it struck a Hamas compound in Rafah with what the military is calling "precise ammunition on the basis of precise intelligence."
The strikes hit the Tel Al-Sultan neighbourhood in western Rafah, igniting fires in areas brimming with the tents of displaced Palestinians.
One man taking shelter in Rafah says everything is gone.
"They burn the people; they burnt them. They burnt a whole neighbourhood in Tal Al-Sultan. People are still burning. Allah suffices us, for He is the best disposer of affairs. What else can I say? I cannot say anything. All of a sudden a missile fell on us, on a neighbourhood. All the people are burnt, go and see what happened to them."
The health ministry in Gaza says 35 people were killed and dozens more, mostly women and children, were injured by the strikes.
The strikes came hours after Hamas launched eight missiles into Israel, setting off the air raid sirens in Israel for the first time since January.
Israel says it intercepted most of the missiles and no casualties were reported.
The Israel Defence Force's Rear Admiral, Daniel Hagari, says millions of Israelis had to be evacuated to bomb shelters.
"Hamas is choosing to continue this war by refusing to release our hostages and continuing to attack Israel. Hamas is holding 125 of our people hostage across our border in Gaza. We will not stop fighting for their freedom."
Senior Hamas officials say the strikes in Rafah were "Zionist massacres against civilians" and says the missiles launched at Israel were done so in retaliation.
Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz says the rockets fired from Rafah are proof that Israel must continue its operations there.
In a meeting with the war cabinet on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says last week's UN ruling allows some room for continued military action in Rafah.
This Israeli protester says the actions of the government of Benjamin Netanyahu are a step backward for the nation.
"I came here to protest against Bibi and his corrupted regime, which is destroying step by step the whole Zionist dream, which was built here for 150 years, all the dreams of Jews for two thousand years, are now destroyed by this regime, which gives ammunition and satisfaction to those inside and outside who hate the Jewish country and wants the worst for it."
Meanwhile, there are reports of potential signs of movement around truce talks following meetings between Israeli and U-S intelligence officials and Qatar's prime minister this weekend.
An official has told Reuters that truce talks, which have been suspended for several weeks, could return to the table this week.
Hamas officials have downplayed the reports saying they had not received anything from the mediators on new dates for resuming the talks.
Representatives of 38 countries held a meeting in Brussels on Sunday, calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and for a two-state solution.
Following the meeting, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah told reporters that it is crucial they keep the 'two-state solution' alive.
“Obviously we have an understanding of the dire critical situation. We need a cease fire immediately. There is a growing consensus. I think almost everyone in the world agrees that an immediate cease fire is necessary, including the release of the hostages. But the humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate in a rapid manner, in a way that is completely unacceptable. And as it has been mentioned, we're seeing additional steps being taken by Israel that impact not just the civilians in Gaza, but also putting the civilian population of the West Bank in a very, very difficult situation.”
During the meeting, the Palestinian Authority heard of the 'deep concerns' held by European donors about the deterioration of the authority.
Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide was in Brussels to hand over diplomatic papers to Palestinian Authority officials ahead of Norway’s formal recognition of a Palestinian state.
He says despite these concerns, the EU supports moves to strengthen the Palestinian Authority.
“I think very wise words were said that in the interest of time, I will not repeat them. But we know how dramatic the situation is, obviously, in Gaza, with the extreme suffering. We need a ceasefire, we need humanitarian efforts, but we also need to take better care of the Palestinian authorities that we do have because there is no alternative. And I think we are all convinced there is no alternative in the long run to a two-state solution. A two-state solution requires a Palestinian government. Norway is one of the countries who have recently recognised Palestine as a state, but countries that have recognised and countries who have not yet recognised, do agree across the board that the outcome must be a Palestinian state.”
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says the two-state solution is not a painful concession for Israel.
“It's not a security threat for Israel, but the contrary, it is the only long-term guarantee for the security and prosperity of Israel. I know that the current Israeli government is not convinced of that, and we have to work in order to make this idea, to go through the public opinion in order to push for the only solution that we can imagine in order to bring peace and security to the two people who are fighting for the same land.”
Also at the meeting was the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority Mohammad Mustafa.
He says the discussions come at an important time after three European countries made the decision last week to formally recognise the state of Palestine.
“But the meeting is also important for another reason. It's important because what's happening in Gaza and the West Bank, on the ground. Gaza has been going through very difficult, very alarming situation with the humanitarian losses where we see increasing every day, but also the physical damages that will make our job of rebuilding much more demanding. Having said all of that, we're still hopeful as Palestinians that the many decades of struggle and working towards independence are coming closer than ever before. These efforts, these announcements, these meetings are key building blocks towards making Palestine independent, sovereign, viable state a reality.”
Israel has so far killed at least 36,000 Palestinians since October 7th, following the Hamas attack which killed around 1200 Israelis and saw around 250 taken hostage.
