Residents in Rafah recount fear after Israeli strike on displacement camp

From journalist Tareq Elhelou in Rafah, CNN’s Abeer Salman and Zeena Saifi

Hours after Israel’s airstrike on a displacement camp in Rafah, smoke is seen rising above the site with torn up cars and charred belongings scattered on the destroyed pavement.

Dozens of residents, including children gathered around the camp, sifted through blackened clothes, blankets and mattresses to recover whatever is salvageable. CNN video from the scene shows people walking over what used to be their shelter and appear to be in shock over the destruction.

Ranin Miqdad, who was living in the camp, told CNN that Israeli forces did not warn residents before they struck the area during what she called a “terrifying night.”

“We were sitting, and suddenly there was a big blast and fire. People started screaming. We came out to see what happened. … We spent the whole night pulling out mutilated bodies of grownups as well as children,” she said.

“People flew away here and there, we needed flashlights to find the remains of little children,” she added.

Ranin said residents who survived the attack are now trying to leave the camp out of fear. Others, like her, don’t have the means to go anywhere, and have nowhere to go, she said.