35 people killed in Israeli attack on Rafah

May 26 (UPI) -- At least 35 people were killed Sunday in an Israeli Defense Force attack on the city of Rafah, where many Gazans have fled for refuge as the war between Israel and Hamas has raged on, the Gaza Health Ministry said.

The strike hit an encampment for the very people who had gone to the town for protection, according to authorities in Gaza.

The IDF said it killed two senior officials from the militant group Hamas in the attack

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netayahu has said he will continue to do what it takes to defeat Hamas since the militant group's Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel, which killed more than 1,200 people.

Netanyahu has not heeded mounting international pressure for a ceasefire or stand down in military hostilities in which almost 36,000 Gazans have died.

Reaction to the most recent IDF has been swift and sweeping.

Palestinian presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh accused Israel of deliberating targeting the tents of displaced people.

"Israeli occupation forces' commission of this heinous massacre is a challenge to all the resolutions of international legitimacy," Rudeineh said.

"The world must take prompt action to stop this massive aggression carried out against the Palestinian people in the Gaza strip and the West Bank."

Doctors Without Borders has express outrage over the attack.

The attack "shows once again that nowhere is safe," the group said in a statement.

"Dozens of wounded and more than 15 dead people were brought to the trauma stabilization point that we support," it added.

The announcement comes after the United Nations relief agency for Palestinian refugee said late last week that it had suspended the distribution of food to Rafah over the Israeli campaign and a lack of supplies.

The war has internally displaced an estimated 1.7 million of the enclave's more than 2 million people, according to the U.N.'s human rights office said.

Around half of the population was estimated to have been sheltering in Rafah until May 6 when the Israel Defense Force began its controversial military operation in the city.

Since Monday, nearly 815,000 people have fled the city, UNRWA said in a statement Friday.

While this latest spate of violence started last October, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict began in 1948 over a land dispute. Many of the issues remain the same today.