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No, Media, Israel Didn’t Strike a Refugee Camp in Rafah
Fire rages following an Israeli strike amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in this still picture taken from a video, May 26, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Reuters TV
An independent military investigation is underway to ascertain exactly what happened following an Israeli airstrike on two senior Hamas commanders in Rafah on Sunday night, which also led to a fire that killed a number of Gazan civilians.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the deaths as “tragic,” and said Israel had been working to protect civilians by evacuating one million Palestinians from Rafah. “Despite our efforts not to hurt them, there was a tragic mishap. We are investigating the incident. For us it’s a tragedy, for Hamas, it’s a strategy,” he said.
A US official reportedly said that the likely cause of the blaze was shrapnel from the strike hitting and igniting a fuel tank, with the fire then spreading to a nearby encampment.
On Tuesday, the Israeli military stated that it suspects munitions or another explosive substance, of which it was unaware, caused the secondary blast and fire.
The IDF also confirmed that the strike occurred outside a designated humanitarian zone.
“Strike on Rafah Refugee Camp”
Despite the evidence, several leading news outlets have suggested that Israel directly struck or targeted the encampment.
The Guardian accused Israel of carrying out a “deadly” airstrike on “on tents housing displaced Palestinians,” while The Los Angeles Times also claimed that the IDF had killed dozens in a “strike on a tent camp…”
As tragic as this incident was, Israel did not carry out an airstrike “on refugee tents.”
The IDF targeted senior Hamas terrorists outside of the designated humanitarian zone. Despite @guardian‘s headline, Israel does not deliberately target civilians.https://t.co/Gs1xSHcrbo pic.twitter.com/GPmjE9nHXe
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) May 28, 2024
Meanwhile, the Associated Press also cited “health officials” in Gaza, who claimed at least 45 people had been killed when a strike “hit a tent camp” and caused a large fire.
The BBC quoted the incendiary comments made by the Irish deputy prime minister, Micheál Martin, saying he had “condemned an Israeli air strike on a camp for displaced Palestinians, describing it as ‘barbaric’.”
Like the AP, ABC News also referenced unverified Gaza health ministry figures without stating it is operated by Hamas.
Just wow. @ABC literally republishes the statement of a terrorist org. This isn’t verified info from an independent health ministry, it’s the unverified claims & propaganda of Hamas.
At least have the honesty to tell your readers where it came from.https://t.co/e5A0d4l2sP pic.twitter.com/KDDeBLoRPN
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) May 28, 2024
The New York Times implied malice on Israel’s part in a piece headlined, “Charred Bodies and Screams” which describes “scenes of horror after an airstrike at a camp.”
Every single civilian death is horrific. It still doesn’t mean Israel targets civilians.
Israel struck & killed two Hamas leaders. Right now, investigations are underway to understand what exactly led to the tragic civilian casualties.
Shame on you @nytimes for implying malice. pic.twitter.com/08BQA0pJIx
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) May 28, 2024
It was a deliberate choice by these media outlets to frame the tragic Rafah incident as an intentional Israeli attack on Palestinian civilians sheltering in a refugee encampment.
This is part of a recurring pattern, where these outlets prematurely — and without evidence — suggest that Israel is guilty of grave war crimes.
The media have a duty to get the facts right, and to report fairly and truthfully. In the context of war, where every piece of misreporting can have potentially devastating consequences, this duty becomes even more critical. Lives depend on it.
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post No, Media, Israel Didn’t Strike a Refugee Camp in Rafah first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Trump Administration to Release Over $5 Billion School Funding That It Withheld
US Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and President Donald Trump, in the East Room at the White House in Washington, DC, US, March 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
President Donald Trump’s administration will release more than $5 billion in previously approved funding for K-12 school programs that it froze over three weeks ago under a review, which had led to bipartisan condemnation.
“(The White House Office of Management and Budget) has completed its review … and has directed the Department to release all formula funds,” Madi Biedermann, deputy assistant secretary for communications at the U.S. Education Department, said in a statement, adding funds will be dispersed to states next week.
Further details on the review and what it found were not shared.
A senior administration official said “guardrails” would be in place for the amount being released, without giving details.
Early in July, the Trump administration said it would not release funding previously appropriated by Congress for schools and that an initial review found signs the money was misused to subsidize what it alleged was “a radical leftwing agenda.”
States say $6.8 billion in total was affected by the freeze. Last week, $1.3 billion was released.
After the freeze, a coalition of mostly Democratic-led states sued to challenge the move, and 10 Republican US senators wrote to the Republican Trump administration to reverse its decision.
The frozen money covered funding for education of migrant farm workers and their children; recruitment and training of teachers; English proficiency learning; academic enrichment and after-school and summer programs.
The Trump administration has threatened schools and colleges with withholding federal funds over issues like climate initiatives, transgender policies, pro-Palestinian protests against U.S. ally Israel’s war in Gaza and diversity, equity and inclusion practices.
Republican US lawmakers welcomed the move on Friday, while Democratic lawmakers said there was no need to disrupt funding in the first place.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon separately said she was satisfied with what was found in the review and released the money, adding she did not think there would be future freezes.
The post Trump Administration to Release Over $5 Billion School Funding That It Withheld first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel to Resume Airdrop Aid to Gaza on Saturday, Military Says
Palestinians carry aid supplies which they received from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in the central Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo
Israel will resume airdrop aid to Gaza on Saturday night, the Israeli military said, a few days after more than 100 aid agencies warned that mass starvation was spreading across the enclave.
“The airdrops will include seven pallets of aid containing flour, sugar, and canned food to be provided by international organizations,” the military added in a statement.
The post Israel to Resume Airdrop Aid to Gaza on Saturday, Military Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Trump Says Hamas ‘Didn’t Want to Make a Deal,’ Now Likely to Get ‘Hunted Down’
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 8, 2025. Photo: Kevin Lamarque via Reuters Connect.
i24 News – US President Donald Trump on Friday said the Palestinian jihadists of Hamas did not want to make a deal on a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza.
“Now we’re down to the final hostages, and they know what happens after you get the final hostages. And basically because of that, they really didn’t want to make a deal,” Trump said.
The comments followed statements by Middle East peace envoy Steve Witkoff and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the effect that Israel was now considering “alternative” options to achieve its goals of bringing its hostages home from Gaza and ending the terror rule of Hamas in the coastal enclave.
Trump added he believed Hamas leaders would now be “hunted down.”
On Thursday, Witkoff said the Trump administration had decided to bring its negotiating team home for consultations following Hamas’s latest proposal. Witkoff said overnight that Hamas was to blame for the impasse, with Netanyahu concurring.
Trump also dismissed the significance of French President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement that Paris would become the first major Western power to recognize an independent Palestinian state.
Macron’s comments, “didn’t carry any weight,” the US leader said.
The post Trump Says Hamas ‘Didn’t Want to Make a Deal,’ Now Likely to Get ‘Hunted Down’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.