ISRAELI attacks on Palestinians at two displaced persons camps in Rafah should be investigated as war crimes, according to a damning new report.

A new investigation by Amnesty International UK slams Israeli forces for failing to take precautions to avoid or minimise harm to civilians sheltering at the Kuwaiti Peace Camp and al-Mawasi in May.

This comes as hopes of a Gaza ceasefire hang in balance after mediation talks in Egypt.

Amnesty said the attacks on both camps “were likely to have been indiscriminate — and one attack is also likely to have been disproportionate — and they should all be investigated as possible war crimes.”

On May 26, two Israeli air strikes on the Kuwaiti Peace Camp, a makeshift camp for internally displaced people in Tal al-Sultan in west Rafah, killed at least 36 people, including six children, and injured more than 100. 

The air strike on the camp consisted of two United States-made GBU-39 guided bombs.

In the second incident on May 28, the Israeli military fired at least three tank shells at a location in the al-Mawasi area of Rafah which was designated a “humanitarian zone” by the Israeli military. 

The attacks killed 23 civilians, including 12 children, seven women and four men, and injured many more. 

Amnesty said the Mawasi attack “failed to distinguish between civilians and military objectives by using unguided munitions in an area full of civilians sheltering in tents, was likely to have been indiscriminate and should also be investigated as a war crime.”

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty’s senior director for research, advocacy, policy and campaigns, said: “While these strikes may have targeted Hamas and Islamic Jihad commanders and fighters, once again displaced Palestinian civilians seeking shelter and safety have paid with their lives.

“The Israeli military would have been fully aware that the use of bombs that project deadly shrapnel across hundreds of metres and unguided tank shells would kill and injure a large number of civilians sheltering in overcrowded settings lacking protection.

“The military could and should have taken all feasible precautions to avoid or at least minimise, harm to civilians.”

She added: “The avoidable deaths and injuries of civilians is a stark and tragic reminder that under international humanitarian law, the presence of fighters in the targeted area does not absolve the Israeli military of its obligations to protect civilians.”

Among those killed at the Kuwait Peace Camp on May 26 were five members of the al-Attar family, who had all been displaced from northern Gaza.

Lina al-Attar, who survived the attack, said: “We were staying in a safe place for displaced people, just metal sheds and tents, no houses around or wanted people. This was a safe area on the maps dropped by the Israeli army.”

Ms Attar said: “I did not hear the sound of the missile,” and the next thing she knew was pools of blood and bodies all around her. 

“My mum was dead. My father was screaming for help. My brother’s wife was killed on the spot where she was sitting holding her baby in her arms.

“I took her baby and gave him to my father. Then I took my little girl from my husband’s lap as he was injured. We managed to save ourselves, but there were so many people dead all around us.”

The Israeli attack on the Mawasi area of Rafah on May 28, which for months before had been designated by Israel as a “humanitarian zone,” killed 23 people and injured dozens more.

Two shells destroyed the al-Hams family home, killing seven-year-old Beesan and her brother, Saleh. Ibrahim al-Ghaffari was also killed at the property.

Mohammad Salah al-Hams, the children’s uncle, said: “Saleh and Beesan went out of the family compound to throw away the rubbish. They were outside for something like 40 to 90 seconds, when the shells hit, only seconds apart. 

“Their father came out of the house and ran to where Saleh was lying dead. He had been hit in the head.”

“Beesan was badly injured and was rushed to the hospital but died,” he added.

Former South African politician Andrew Feinstein, the author of The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade, said the likely war crimes are “yet another example of Britain’s complicity in violations of British and international law due to continued arms sales to Israel.”

He added: “The West could end this carnage by ending all arms sales to Israel, which would bring its military operations in the occupied territories to a grinding halt within days.”

Meanwhile, a round of high-level talks in Cairo meant to bring about a ceasefire and hostage deal to at least temporarily end the 10-month Israel-Gaza war ended on Sunday without a final agreement, a US official said. 

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said lower-level “working teams” would remain in Cairo to meet mediators from the US, Qatar, and Egypt to address remaining disagreements. 

The official said all parties in the talks, which began on Thursday, were working to “reach a final and implementable agreement.”

The talks included CIA director William Burns and David Barnea, the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency while a Hamas delegation did not directly take part but was briefed by Egyptian and Qatari mediators.

Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah traded heavy fire early on Sunday but backed off from sparking a widely feared all-out war, as both sides signalled their most intense exchange in months was over.

Hezbollah claimed to have hit an Israeli military intelligence site near Tel Aviv as part of a barrage of hundreds of rockets and drones, and Israel claimed its dozens of “pre-emptive strikes” had been to avert a larger attack. 

Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah said the attack, a response to Israel’s killing of a top militant commander in Beirut last month, had been delayed to give the Gaza ceasefire talks a chance, and so fellow Iran-backed groups could discuss with Iran whether to attack Israel all at once. 

He said: “We will now reserve the right to respond at a later time” if the results of Sunday’s attack aren’t sufficient,” adding that both Iran and the Houthi-led government in Yemen had yet to respond to the Israelis. 

Israel said one soldier with its navy was killed and two others were wounded either by an interceptor for incoming fire, or by shrapnel from one. 

Hezbollah said two of its fighters were killed during the exchanges.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military had eliminated thousands of Hezbollah rockets and drones and “this is not the end of the story.”