An Israeli journalist with close ties to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made boastful remarks on Sunday, rejoicing the Israeli attack in Rafah, which resulted in the killing of dozens of Palestinian civilians.
At least 45 people, primarily women and children, were killed, and many others were injured in the strike on a camp for displaced Palestinians in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Sunday.
Israeli journalist and politician Yinon Magal posted a video on his X account, showing Palestinian medical teams frantically trying to rescue civilians from tents engulfed in flames after the attack.
Magal commented on the video, saying, “The main lighting ceremony this year (is) in Rafah,”, referring to the Jewish holiday of Lag BaOmer, which involves bonfires.
Although Magal later deleted his post, he retained it on his Telegram account, where he has over 73,000 followers.
Magal, who has also served as a member of the Knesset for the Jewish Home for most of 2015, is well-known for his staunch support of the ongoing Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip and his firm endorsement of Netanyahu’s policies.
Magal is only one of the many Isrealis who gloated over the killing of scores of Palestinian civilians in Rafah.
On Sunday night and Monday morning, Israeli social media was filled with jokes and memes mocking the massacre in Rafah.
Another journalist, Naveh Dromi from i24, shared a video of the blaze with the caption ‘Happy Holiday. This post was also later removed.
Yoav Eliasi, a far-right rapper and activist known by his stage name ‘The Shadow,’ posted videos of the Rafah fire on Telegram, framing the tragic attack as a Lag BaOmer bonfire.
Heinous Crime in Rafah
At least 40 people were killed and many others injured on Sunday night when Israeli forces targeted a camp for displaced people and residential houses in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, according to medical sources and officials.
The attack occurred near the logistics base of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) in Tal al-Sultan, as reported by the Gaza Government Media Office. The office stated that Israeli aircraft used missiles and 2,000-pound bombs to strike several tents in the area.
Gaza’s civil defense force reported that it transported 50 individuals, both dead and injured, following the bombing.
The targeted area was home to at least 100,000 displaced people. The Palestine Red Crescent Society also confirmed that its ambulance crews were moving the victims to nearby medical centers.
Eyewitnesses described fires engulfing the area, which continued to burn.
Gaza Genocide
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 36,050 Palestinians have been killed, and 81,026 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 7,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.