Israel soldiers turn mosque in Gaza’s Rafah into ‘cooking place’

Israeli soldiers have turned a mosque in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip into a cooking place, a video showed on Thursday, Anadolu Agency reports.

The clip, circulated by an Israeli soldier on social media, showed the Muslim worship place being used by soldiers to serve meals.

It features large tables inside the mosque on which Israeli soldiers placed various types of food items.

A sticker affixed to a cardboard food box used by soldiers is also shown with a production date showing 22 May, which is likely the time when the video was shot.

Israeli military vehicles also appear stationed inside the Rafah border crossing near the mosque.

Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since a 7 October, 2023 attack by Hamas despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire.

More than 37,200 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and more than 84,900 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in its latest ruling has ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on 6 May.

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