RAFAH, May 28 — Global condemnation poured yesterday over an Israeli strike that Gaza officials said killed 45 people in a camp housing displaced Palestinians.

Israel’s military said it had launched an investigation into the incident, which was trenchantly criticised by several nations and organisations.

United Nations

The UN Security Council called an emergency meeting on the Rafah strike and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned what he called an attack that "killed scores of innocent civilians who were only seeking shelter from this deadly conflict.”

"There is no safe place in Gaza. This horror must stop,” Guterres added in a social media post. Other UN officials called for a thorough investigation into the incident.

European Union

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he was "horrified by news coming out of Rafah on Israeli strikes killing dozens of displaced persons, including small children”, adding: "I condemn this in the strongest terms”. EU foreign ministers agreed to call a meeting with Israel to seek an explanation.

United States

The US government said Israel must do more to protect civilians. "As we’ve been clear, Israel must take every precaution possible to protect civilians,” a US National Security Council spokesperson said in a statement. "We are actively engaging the IDF and partners on the ground to assess what happened,” the spokesperson added.

African Union

"With horrific overnight air strikes killing mostly Palestinian women & children... the State of Israel continues to violate international law with impunity and in contempt of an ICJ (International Court of Justice) ruling two days ago ordering an end to its military action in Rafah,” AU Commission head Moussa Faki Mahamat said on X.

"The ICJ order must be urgently enforced if global order is to prevail,” he added.

France

"These operations must stop. There are no safe areas in Rafah for Palestinian civilians,” President Emmanuel Macron said on X, the former Twitter, in English.

"I call for full respect for international law and an immediate ceasefire.”

Turkiye

"We will do everything possible to hold these barbarians and murderers accountable who have nothing to do with humanity,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

Egypt

The Egyptian foreign ministry deplored the "tragic event” and denounced the "targeting of defenceless civilians” and "a systematic policy aimed at widening the scope of death and destruction in the Gaza Strip to make it uninhabitable”.

It called on Israel to "implement the measures ordered by the International Court of Justice concerning an immediate cessation of military operations” in Rafah.

Chile

Chile’s foreign ministry said it "strongly condemns the indiscriminate attack by the Israel Defence Forces on a civilian refugee camp in Rafah.”

It, too, called on Israel to comply with international humanitarian law and the measures ordered by the ICJ.

President Gabriel Boric wrote "Criminals” on his Instagram account next to a post about the attacks. — AFP