(UnitedVoice.com) – Israel is currently under fire from the international community for an attack on Hamas that lit a refugee camp on fire and killed 45 people. The airstrike was the single most deadly incident in Rafah since Israel began its offensive on the city. Protesters are now accused of trying to set an Israeli embassy on fire in Mexico.
On May 28, more than 200 people turned out for the “Urgent action for Rafah” protest outside of the Israeli embassy in Mexico City’s Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood. Demonstrators tried to break down barriers to get into the facility. They threw rocks and other objects at the police who were on the scene.
Footage posted on social media shows protesters setting foliage on a concrete wall on fire. The wall surrounds the embassy to protect it from exactly that type of situation. The fire was immediately put out, preventing it from spreading to the building.
Six police officers suffered injuries during the protest.
Israel claimed the fire at the refugee camp was started by shrapnel from an airstrike on a Hamas facility hitting a gas tank. The country said it was a mistake but continued to press forward deeper into Rafah in the days that followed.
On Friday, May 31, the Israeli military announced it had advanced into central Rafah. Commandos made their way through city streets with tanks and artillery. The news came after the Israelis had announced they seized control of Rafah’s border crossing with Egypt.
The international community, including the United States, is fiercely against a full-scale invasion of Rafah because more than one million refugees fled there to stay safe. The United Nations and other international organizations have warned of a high civilian count if Israel begins attacking the city. The deaths of the refugees were pointed to as an example of what’s to come if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesn’t stand down.
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