Politicians and activists react to Israeli strikes on Rafah – in which at least 40 people were killed

Politicians and activists from Ireland and beyond have publicly condemned the Israeli strike on a centre for displaced people near Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday – which resulted in the death of at least 40 people, including women and children, according to Gaza officials.

The camp in Tal as-Sultan was located in a designated safe zone in Rafah. Al Jazeera have described the attack – graphic images and videos of which have emerged on social media – as "one of the deadliest since the start of the war on Gaza".

The strike followed Hamas's first rocket attack on Tel Aviv in several months. The Israeli military have claimed that they killed two senior Hamas officials in the strike on Rafah.

Speaking to Virgin Media News, Taoiseach Simon Harris stated that the "idea that anybody would bomb a displaced persons centre... where parents bring their children to be safe" is "horrific".

He also said that the attack "raises extraordinarily serious questions  in relation to international law."

"This cannot be allowed to continue," he remarked – before describing the killing of children, and the attack on a displaced persons centre, as "a despicable act."

EXCL: Simon Harris tells @virginmedianews on Rafah bombings:
"That anybody would bomb a displaced persons centre - a place where people are told to go to be safe... is horrific... every single country must ask itself, how can what we've been doing be so ineffective so far." pic.twitter.com/mSNXyIeOZ3

— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) May 27, 2024

Speaking at a joint press conference this morning with the Foreign Ministers of Spain and Norway – to outline how the three countries will formally recognise the State of Palestine tomorrow – Tánaiste Micheál Martin condemned both the rocket strikes on Tel Aviv and "the attack on the Rafah refugee camp last evening, where again, innocent civilians, including children, were killed."

"This again, is in violation of the International Court of Justice and its instruction to Israel to cease its bombardment of Rafah," he added.

Other politicians and activists have also shared their reactions to the attack on Rafah.

"What is happening in Rafah right now is horrific," Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon remarked on social media last night. "How Europe can look away, equivocate in its condemnation, offer mealy-mouthed words while refusing to even consider sanctions against Israel is beyond contempt. Israel is a terrorist State."

People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll also described the strikes as "truly horrifying."

"Israel feels it can do this because it is never punished," the Belfast politician and activist continued. "The Irish Government must sanction Israel immediately. Expel the ambassador. Kick the US out of Shannon. Implement full BDS on Israel."

People Before Profit TD Bríd Smith similarly called for action, stating that "our future is at stake here."

"We either fight for a world that takes peace seriously and opposes genocide and apartheid or we have barbarism," she wrote. "Leadership across the west Failed to act to stop the massacre in Rafah."

Leon Diop, the founder of Black & Irish – a group that platforms the experiences of the Black and mixed race community in Ireland – also took to social media, to state that: "This genocide must be stopped."

"Those in power in every country in the world have a responsibility to hold the Israeli leaders to account," he stated.

In the UK, former Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn described the attack as "a monstrous failure of humanity."

"Palestinian children should wake up feeling excited to go to school and play with their friends," he wrote on X. "Instead, for those murdered in Rafah, their last moments on this earth were filled with unimaginable fear as bombs rained down on their tents."

The Health Ministry in Gaza has said that at least 36,050 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, and 81,026 have been injured.