On Monday, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell expressed his horror at the massacre in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, saying: “These attacks must stop immediately.”

On Sunday evening, 45 Palestinians were martyred and 249 others were injured, most of them children and women, in an Israeli bombing that targeted the tents of displaced people in the Tal al-Sultan area, northwest of Rafah.

Borrell added, in a post on his account on the X platform, “There is no safe place in Gaza, and these attacks must stop immediately.”

He stressed the need to "respect the orders of the International Court of Justice regarding Rafah and international humanitarian law by all parties."

He added: "I am horrified by the news coming from Rafah about the Israeli raids that led to the deaths of dozens of displaced people, including young children."

Borrell concluded by saying: "I condemn the Rafah massacre in the strongest terms."

Israeli government spokesman Avi Hayman said, in a briefing to reporters via the Zoom platform: “According to the results of preliminary reports, a fire broke out after the (Israeli) attack, which appears to have led to the killing of civilians.”

He claimed that "Israel is investigating the incident" that occurred in the Tal al-Sultan area.

This area was previously claimed by Israel as safe, and it did not warn its residents or request that it be evacuated of the displaced. Its bombing came two days after the International Court of Justice issued an order to stop the Israeli ground attack on Rafah immediately.

The "massacre" sparked sharp regional and international criticism of Israel, with accusations of defying international legitimacy resolutions, and calls to impose sanctions and pressure it to end the "genocide" and stop the ongoing ground attack on Rafah since May 6.