New Delhi, May 30 : India on Thursday said it is deeply concerned over the “heartbreaking loss of civilian lives” in Rafah following an Israeli military strike on a camp for displaced Palestinian people three days ago.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, answering a question regarding the civilian deaths, including of women and children, in the southern Gaza city of Rafah that has attracted global outrage, said:

“We want to say that the heartbreaking loss of civilian lives in the displacement camp in Rafah is a matter of deep concern for us. We have consistently called for protection of the civilian population, and respect for international humanitarian law in the ongoing conflict.

“We also note that the Israeli side has already accepted responsibility for it as a tragic incident and announced an investigation into the incident,” he added.

An Israeli military attack in Rafah killed more than 45 people, including women and children, on Sunday night in a tent camp for displaced Palestinian refugees.

Videos from the scene in the Tal al-Sultan area on Sunday night showed a large explosion and intense fires burning.

The Israel Defense Forces initially said it used “precise munitions” and “intelligence” to target two senior Hamas leaders in the area. It added that it is now investigating the event, after news emerged that the strike started a fire that engulfed the camp, leaving destroyed shelters and charred bodily remains whose images flooded social media.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the attack as a “tragic incident.”

“In Rafah, we have already evacuated about a million uninvolved residents. And despite our utmost effort not to harm uninvolved residents, a tragic incident occurred yesterday. We are investigating the case, we will draw conclusions because this is our policy,” he said in remarks to the Israeli parliament.

UNI