‘Shocking and brutal massacre’: World reacts to Israel’s al-Mawasi attack

Outrage after 90 killed in designated ‘safe zone’ attack that Israel says targeted Hamas military leader.

A man carries a child at the site of an Israeli attack at a tent camp in al-Mawasi in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip [Hatem Khaled/Reuters]

Published On 13 Jul 2024

The United Nations and countries across the Middle East have denounced Israel after its military attacked a designed humanitarian safe zone in Gaza, killing at least 90 Palestinians and wounding 300 others.

Israel said the target of Saturday’s attack in al-Mawasi was Hamas commander Mohammed Deif, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was not certain if the fighter had been killed. Hamas rejected the premise of the assault as “false”, saying that “defenceless civilians” were killed in the attack.

Photos and videos verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad agency showed Palestinians sifting through debris and what appeared to be remnants of tents at the location of the attacks.

Here’s how world leaders have responded:

Jordan

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the attack on “displaced persons’ tents in Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip, in an area that Israel had previously classified as safe, which resulted in the death and injury of dozens of Palestinians”.

Spokesperson Sufyan Al-Qudah said Jordan called for the international community to act to bring an end to Palestinian suffering amid Israel’s repeated violations of international law.

Egypt

In a statement, Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Israel’s “ongoing violations against the rights of Palestinian citizens” add serious “complications” to achieving a ceasefire deal.

Egypt has been among the countries working to mediate such an agreement between Israel and Hamas.

“We condemn in the strongest terms the Israeli raids on the al-Mawasi area,” the Foreign Ministry said.

A Palestinian woman reacts following an Israeli attack on a tent camp in al-Mawasi in southern Gaza [Mohammed Salem/Reuters]

Qatar

Doha has also been working as a mediator in ceasefire negotiations. On Saturday, it called the “shocking and brutal massacre” at al-Mawasi “a new chapter in the ongoing series of crimes” committed by Israel against Palestinians.

It warned the attack would further undermine efforts for a lasting peace, “thereby expanding the cycle of violence in the region and threatening international peace and security”.

Turkey

The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called the attack “a phase of the Netanyahu government’s effort to annihilate the Palestinians entirely”.

“The fact that Israel once again opted for bloodshed when it was expected to respond to Hamas’s positive response to the ceasefire [proposal] is evidence that the Netanyahu government is trying to prevent negotiations for a permanent ceasefire,” the ministry said.

It called on countries supporting Israel to put an end to the “barbarism”.

A woman cries in the aftermath of an attack in al-Mawasi 

[Hatem Khaled/Reuters]

Iran

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Nasser Kanaani called the attack on al-Mawasi the “latest crime in the series of crimes committed by the child-killing Zionist regime”.


“The Zionists have once again brutally shown that in order to compensate for the defeats suffered on the battlefield with the resistance, they do not recognise any humane and moral red line towards the defenceless residents of the Gaza Strip, but they must know that insisting on this path is nothing but a wider global hatred,” Kanaani said in a post on X.

Palestinian Authority

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Authority (PA) presidency, which governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said the attack was a “continuation of the genocidal war against our people, and the US administration bears responsibility for the continuation of the massacres.”

In a statement carried by the Wafa news agency, Abu Rudeineh added: “Without blind and biased American support, this occupation would not have been able to continue its bloody crimes against our people, and to defy international laws and the decisions of international courts that have demanded an end to the onslaught and protection for our people.”

United Nations

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “shocked and saddened” by the Israeli air raids which killed at least 90 Palestinians.

“The [Israeli military] stated that they were targeting two senior members of Hamas,” Guterres said in a statement. “The Secretary General underlines that international humanitarian law including the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precautions in attack must be upheld at all times.”

Hezbollah

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah decried Israel’s attack and said the Lebanese group’s attacks against Israeli targets fulfil the “duty” to support Palestinians and are not a “favour”.

“Today, the occupation carried out a large massacre against displaced people in al-Mawasi in Khan Younis. Then it justified it by saying it wanted to target [Hamas] leaders,” he said. “Are there worse injustices and oppression in the world?”

Saudi Arabia

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs called for “activating international accountability mechanisms” against Israeli abuses.

“The Foreign Ministry condemns in strongest terms the continuation of genocidal massacres against the Palestinian people at the hands of the Israeli war machine, the latest of which was the targeting [of] displaced people’s camps in Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip,” it said in a statement.

Organisation for Islamic Cooperation

The OIC said it strongly condemned Israel’s “heinous massacres” in al-Mawasi as well as in the Shati refugee camp.

The organisation said it considers the attacks an “extension of the crime of genocide that the Israeli occupation continues to commit against Palestinian civilians, in blatant defiance of” UN resolutions and the orders of the International Court of Justice.
Advertisement

United Arab Emirates

The UAE denounced Israeli abuses in Gaza, including “the most recent targeting of camps for displaced people in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, which led to numerous deaths and injuries to dozens of innocent civilians”.

The country’s Foreign Ministry also “reaffirmed the need for an immediate ceasefire to prevent further loss of life, reiterating the importance of protecting civilians and civilian institutions, according to the international law including international treaties”.
Oman

Oman said the Israeli attack was “an explicit act of terrorism and new evidence of the policy of deliberate extermination… towards the Palestinian people”.

The country’s foreign minister said in a statement that the raids, which targeted “unarmed civilians”, were in clear breach of international law.

UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territory

Speaking to Al Jazeera on Saturday, Francesca Albanese said that Israel likely violated international law by striking in a designated humanitarian zone.

“I’m disgusted by the tolerance of Israel’s impunity which is enabling the genocidal war,” Albanese said.

In March, Albanese issued a report listing “reasonable grounds” to believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

United States

While the administration of US President Joe Biden has yet to respond to Saturday’s attack, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said, “We must do more to stop this.”

Writing on X, Jayapal said, “Israel is continuing a horrific assault on Gaza, forcing the closure of medical facilities and even restricting the entry of medical equipment.”

She called for an “immediate and permanent ceasefire to release the hostages and save lives”.

Colombia

President Gustavo Petro decried what he called “the greatest injustice”.

“I am even more outraged because this destruction of international human law is a prelude to the barbarism they want to unleash on all the oppressed people of the earth,” he said in a post on X.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES