Israeli tanks enter Rafah’s center as Security Council to discuss camp blaze

Israeli military sent its tanks into the center of Rafah for the first time in three-week ground operation on Tuesday despite a global storm of outrage over a strike that set ablaze a crowded tent city, killing 45 people according to Palestinian officials.

The strike, which Gaza medics said also left hundreds of civilians with shrapnel and burn wounds, drew condemnation from world leaders and was set to be discussed at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council from 1915 GMT.

The sight of the charred carnage, blackened corpses and children being rushed to hospitals led U.N. chief Antonio Guterres to declare that "there is no safe place in Gaza. This horror must stop."

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the strike a "tragic accident" but also vowed to push on with the military campaign to destroy Hamas over the Oct. 7 attack and bring home all the hostages.

Several news outlets reported that the tanks were spotted near a mosque in the central region of Rafah.

Israeli tanks were "stationed on the Al-Awda roundabout in the center of the city of Rafah," a witness said. A Palestinian security source confirmed tanks were in the center of Rafah. 

More air strikes and shelling rained down overnight on besieged Gaza — including Rafah's Tal Al-Sultan area where the displacement camp went up in flames near a facility of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.

"The situation is very dangerous," said one resident, Faten Jouda, 30. "We didn't sleep all night. There was random bombing from all directions, including artillery shelling and air bombardment as well as firing from aircraft.

"We saw everyone fleeing again," she told AFP. "We too will go now and head to Al-Mawasi because we fear for...