The IDF’s General Staff’s Fact-Finding and Assessment Mechanism will investigate a strike carried out in Rafah which sparked a fire in which at least 45 Palestinians were killed, the IDF said Monday.
The investigation was opened on the order of the Military Advocate General, Maj.-Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi.
The IDF said the strike targeted two senior Hamas terrorists in the Tal as Sultan area based on prior intelligence information about their presence at the site. The two terrorists were identified as Yassin Rabia, the commander of Hamas’ leadership in the West Bank, and Khaled Nagar, a senior official in Hamas’ West Bank wing.
Rabia managed the entirety of Hamas’ terrorist activity in the West Bank, transferred funds to terrorists, and planned terrorist attacks throughout the West Bank. Rabi also carried out several murderous terrorist attacks in 2001 and 2002. Nagar directed shooting attacks and transferred funds for Hamas’ terrorist activities in Gaza. Nagar also carried out several deadly terrorist attacks between 2001-2003.
The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza reported that 45 people were killed in the strike and the ensuing blaze in Rafah on Sunday night. Footage from the scene showed bodies being pulled out of tents and haphazard structures consumed by large fires.
The IDF added that it had taken “a number of steps” to reduce the risk of harming uninvolved civilians, including through aerial surveillance, the deployment of precise munitions, and additional intelligence information. The IDF said that, based on these measures, it was assessed that no harm was expected to be caused to uninvolved civilians.
The IDF stressed that, contrary to some initial reports, the strike did not hit the humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi and Khan Yunis. The IDF said that it “regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians during combat.”
The General Staff’s Fact-Finding and Assessment Mechanism is an independent body responsible for examining exceptional incidents in combat.
Military Advocate General calls Rafah incident ‘very difficult’
Earlier on Monday, the Military Advocate General said that the incident in Rafah was under review, calling it a “very difficult” incident.
Tomer-Yerushalmi stressed that while there have been incidents in which there is a suspicion of violations of the laws of war and military orders during the war, these are “exceptions, not the rule and they do not bely a policy that deviates from the law.”
The Military Police Criminal Investigation Division has opened about 70 investigations into incidents throughout the war. These investigations include one into allegations concerning the treatment of detainees at the Sde Teiman detention facility.
“We take these allegations very seriously and are working to see them through,” said Tomer-Yerushalmi.
The investigations being conducted also include cases of un-involved civilians being killed in combat circumstances, incidents of violence, property crimes, and looting. Some other incidents were found not to cross the criminal threshold and were referred to commanders to take disciplinary measures.
“Some claim and these are claims we have heard more than once in the past: the cannons are rumbling! – Why are you prioritizing investigating soldiers in the midst of combat? Some even go further and claim that in any case the internal enforcement is not effective in preventing proceedings in the international arena,” said Tomer-Yerushalmi.
“The IDF’s commitment to the law does not stem from the concern posed by the international arena. It is rooted, first and foremost, in the fact that the State of Israel is a state of law. The rule of law, and the purity of arms, are values woven into the IDF’s code of ethics from the day it was established.”
The Military Advocate General stressed that Israel has been acted for decades to enforce the rule of law and purity of arms, pointing to the Hula massacre in 1948, when IDF soldiers shot at least 35 men and then blew up a house on top of them, and the Kafr Kassem massacre in 1956 when 49 Arab-Israelis were killed by Border Police officers.
In the case of the Hula massacre, the commander responsible was sentenced to seven years in prison, but that sentence was later dropped to one year. In the case of Kafr Kassem, eleven Border Police officers and soldiers were court-martialed, with some receiving sentences as long as 17 years, but all of those convicted were released early within a few years of the massacre. The brigade commander involved in the Kfar Qassem massacre received a symbolic punishment of a 10 prutot fine.
“Maintaining clear boundaries, even in war, moreso during war, and enforcing the law when these boundaries were crossed – are a clear expression of the deep difference between us and our enemies. This is how we have operated in the IDF since the first day of the war, and we are proud of it,” said Tomer-Yerushalmi.
Additionally, on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referenced the incident in Rafah in a speech in the Knesset plenum, calling it a “tragic error” and saying it would be investigated.
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