‘Shocking and brutal massacre’: World reacts to Israel’s al-Mawasi attack

Condemnation has poured in after an Israeli air raid killed dozens of people in the al-Mawasi area of Gaza, which had been designated a “safe zone” by Israel, according to Gaza authorities.

At least 90 people were killed and 300 others were wounded in Saturday’s attack, according to Palestinian authorities, which Israeli officials said targeted Hamas military commander, Mohammed Deif, and another senior figure in the armed group.

Speaking to reporters hours later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was “not absolutely certain” if Deif had been killed. Hamas has rejected the premise of the assault as “false”, saying that “defenceless civilians” were killed in the attack.

Photos and video verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad agency showed Palestinians sifting through debris and what appeared to be remnants of tents in the location of the attacks, surrounded by tightly packed make-shift shelters of Palestinians displaced by the war.

Here’s how world leaders and rights observers have reacted:

Jordan

The kingdom’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the attack on “displaced persons’ tents in Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip, in an area that Israel had previously classified as safe, which resulted in the death and injury of dozens of Palestinians”.

Spokesperson Sufyan al-Qudah said Jordan called for the international community to act to bring an end to Palestinian suffering amid Israel’s repeated violations of international law.

Egypt

In a statement, Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Israel’s “ongoing violations against the rights of Palestinian citizens” add serious “complications” to achieving a ceasefire deal.

Egypt has been among the countries working to mediate such an agreement between Israel and Hamas.

“We condemn in the strongest terms the Israeli raids on the al-Mawasi area,” the Foreign Ministry said.

Qatar

Doha has also been working as a mediator in ceasefire negotiations. On Saturday, it called the “shocking and brutal massacre” at al-Mawasi “a new chapter in the ongoing series of crimes” committed by Israel against Palestinians.

It warned the attack would further undermine efforts for a lasting peace, “thereby expanding the cycle of violence in the region and threatening international peace and security”.

Turkey

The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called the attack “a phase of the Netanyahu government’s effort to annihilate the Palestinians entirely”.

“The fact that Israel once again opted for bloodshed when it was expected to respond to Hamas’s positive response to the ceasefire [proposal] is evidence that the Netanyahu government is trying to prevent negotiations for a permanent ceasefire,” the ministry said.

It called on countries supporting Israel to put an end to what it the “barbarism”.

Iran

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Nasser Kanaani, called the attack on al-Mawasi the “latest crime in the series of crimes committed by the child-killing Zionist regime”.

“The Zionists have once again brutally shown that in order to compensate for the defeats suffered on the battlefield with the resistance, they do not recognise any humane and moral red line towards the defenceless residents of the Gaza Strip, but they must know that insisting on this path is nothing but a wider global hatred,” Kanaani said in a post on X.

Palestinian Authority

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Authority (PA) presidency, which governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank called the attack on al-Mawasi the “continuation of the genocidal war against our people, and the US administration bears responsibility for the continuation of the massacres.”

In a statement carried by the official Wafa news agency, Abu Rudeineh added: “Without blind and biased American support, this occupation would not have been able to continue its bloody crimes against our people, and to defy international laws and the decisions of international courts that have demanded an end to the onslaught and protection for our people.”

Colombia

President Gustavo Petro decried what he called “the greatest injustice”.

“I am even more outraged because this destruction of international human law is a prelude to the barbarism they want to unleash on all the oppressed people of the earth,” he said in a post on X.

Saudi Arabia

The kingdom’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called for “activating international accountability mechanisms” against Israeli abuses.

“The Foreign Ministry condemns in strongest terms the continuation of genocidal massacres against the Palestinian people at the hands of the Israeli war machine, the latest of which was the targeting (of) displaced people’s camps in Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip,” it said in a statement.

US Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal

While the administration of US President Joe Biden has yet to respond to Saturday’s attack, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus said, “We must do more to stop this.

“Israel is continuing a horrific assault on Gaza, forcing the closure of medical facilities and even restricting the entry of medical equipment,” Jayapal said in a social media post.

She called for an “immediate and permanent ceasefire to release the hostages and save lives”.

UN Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Speaking to Al Jazeera on Saturday, Francesca Albanese said that Israel likely violated international by striking in a designated humanitarian zone.

“I’m disgusted by the tolerance of Israel’s impunity which is enabling the genocidal war,” Albanese said.

In March, Albanese issued a report listing “reasonable grounds” to believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.