'The world is witnessing Rafah getting burnt up by Israel and no one is doing anything to stop it'

Tánaiste Micheál Martin has described the attacks on Rafah overnight as 'barbaric'

Palestinians react next to the destruction after an Israeli strike where displaced people were staying in Rafah. Picture: AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi

An Israeli airstrike triggered a massive blaze killing 45 people in a tent camp in the Gaza city of Rafah, officials said on Monday, prompting an outcry from global leaders who urged the implementation of a World Court ruling to halt Israel's assault.

In scenes grimly familiar from a war in its eighth month, Palestinian families rushed to hospitals to prepare their dead for burial after the strike late on Sunday night set tents and rickety shelters ablaze.