The occupation admits to bombing a Red Cross building in the southern Gaza Strip.

The Israeli occupation army admitted on Monday evening to bombing a Red Cross building in the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip. The army said in a statement that its forces operating in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, opened fire earlier on Monday "at a building after spotting suspects and feeling a threat to the force. No injuries were reported, and minor damage was recorded in the building." It added: "Following an examination, it was determined that the sighting was erroneous, and that the building belongs to the Red Cross." It added: "The incident will be investigated."

While the army claimed its forces were unaware that the building belonged to the organization, the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement on Twitter that its office in Rafah was damaged by an "explosive shell, despite it being clearly marked and all parties knowing its location."

It stated that although none of its staff were harmed, this "will have a direct impact on the ICRC's ability to operate." The ICRC "strongly" condemned the attack on its office in Rafah.

She stressed that "international humanitarian law provides special protection for humanitarian relief personnel, medical personnel, medical facilities, and objects used in humanitarian relief operations." She added, "They must be respected and protected in all circumstances to ensure the continuity of humanitarian relief work, and they must never be targeted for attack."

This is not the first time the Israeli occupation army has deliberately bombed UN headquarters and humanitarian organizations in the Gaza Strip. The most recent attack occurred on March 19, when it bombed a UN building in the Strip, killing one employee and wounding five others.

The spokesman for the UN Secretary-General said on Monday that the shelling that targeted a UN compound in Gaza last week, which resulted in the death of a Bulgarian employee, came from an "Israeli tank." Stéphane Dujarric explained that "the information currently available indicates that the strikes that targeted a group of UN buildings in Deir al-Balah on 19 March came from an Israeli tank," adding that the UN has decided to temporarily reduce the number of its international staff in the Palestinian enclave.

Since resuming its genocide in Gaza on March 18, Israel has killed 730 Palestinians and wounded 1,367 others, most of them women and children, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza. This escalation, which Tel Aviv said was taking place in full coordination with Washington, represents the largest violation of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, the second phase of which Israel refrained from implementing after the first phase expired in early March. Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza has left more than 163,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them women and children, and more than 14,000 missing.

(Anatolia, AFP, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed)