Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday an air strike in the area of Rafah in southern Gaza that killed dozens of Palestinians was not intended to cause civilian casualties and would be investigated.
“In Rafah, we already evacuated about 1 million non-combatant residents and despite our utmost effort not to harm non-combatants, something unfortunately went tragically wrong,” he said in a speech in parliament that was interrupted by shouting from opposition lawmakers.
“We are investigating the incident and will reach conclusions because this is our policy.”
Following a “devastating” strike on Rafah, the United States has urged Israel to take every precaution to protect civilians, according to the US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.
“Israel has a right to go after Hamas, and we understand this strike killed two senior Hamas … [activists] who are responsible for attacks against Israeli civilians,” Kirby was quoted by the Reuters as saying. “But as we’ve been clear, Israel must take every precaution possible to protect civilians.”
“We are actively engaging the [Israeli army] and partners on the ground to assess what happened, and understand that [it] is conducting an investigation,” he said.
