New Delhi: Amidst ongoing global outrage, India has termed the airstrike on a refugee camp for displaced Palestinians as “heartbreaking” and a “matter of concern”, with New Delhi also noting that Tel Aviv has accepted responsibility.
On Sunday (May 26), a conflagration tore through the tents of a refugee camp in Rafah – a city in the Gaza strip – after an Israeli airstrike, killing at least 45 people including children.
At first, the Israeli military said it had targeted two senior officials of the Palestinian group Hamas, who were behind the October 7 attack on Israel.
A day later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech to parliament that “despite our supreme effort not to harm uninvolved civilians, a tragic accident occurred to our regret last night”.
He ordered an investigation but gave no indication that the ground operation in Rafah would stop.
At the weekly media briefing, external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal 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”.
He noted that India has “consistently called for [the] protection of [the] civilian population and respect for international humanitarian law in the ongoing conflict”.
Jaiswal added that Israel has “already accepted responsibility for it as a tragic accident and announced an investigation into the incident”.
The Rafah deaths took place just a couple of days after the International Court of Justice had called on Israel to immediately halt its military offensive in the city.
There has been growing criticism of Israel, with Netanyahu refusing to listen to calls to stop the military operations in Gaza, where the toll has crossed 32,000.
Earlier on Tuesday, Norway, Spain and Ireland formally recognised an independent Palestinian state.
While it is a symbolic move, it demonstrates the rising international frustration over the continuing conflict in Gaza.
In answer to a question about the diplomatic recognition by the three European nations, Jaiswal noted that India had already taken this step much earlier.
India established ties with the Palestine Liberation Organisation in the 1970s and officially recognised the Palestinian state in 1988, becoming the first non-Arab country to do so.
The diplomatic enclave in the Indian capital also has a Palestinian embassy, whose construction was funded by India.
“As you are aware, India was one of the first countries to recognise the state of Palestine in the late 1980s, and we have long supported two state solution which entails the establishment of a sovereign, viable, and independent state of Palestine within recognised and mutually agreed borders, living side by side with Israel in peace,” Jaiswal said.
India’s position on the Gaza crisis has evolved since the early days. After the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel that killed over 1,200 people, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed “solidarity” with Israel.
India had also abstained on the first UN General Assembly resolution that called for a humanitarian pause to Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza strip.
Yet, in subsequent days, India has had to reiterate its position on its support for the Palestinian cause in addition to its consistent referral to its intolerance to any kind of terrorism.
It has since backed UNGA resolutions advocating for a ceasefire in Gaza, including the most recent one supporting Palestine’s UN membership.
At the same time, India has also abstained on a UNHRC resolution that called for an arms embargo on Israel. India continues to not only be Israel’s largest customer for defence supplies, but has also been supplying drones and other munitions after the start of the Gaza war.
