Israel claims Palestinian civilians killed from fire after strike in Rafah

An Israeli government spokesman claimed Monday that a preliminary investigation showed that Palestinian civilians were killed by a fire that broke out in Rafah after an Israeli strike.

At least 45 people, mostly women and children, were killed and nearly 250 others injured in an Israeli strike on a camp for displaced people in Rafah on Sunday.

"According to initial reports, a fire broke out after the attack," Avi Hyman claimed, adding that the army was investigating the incident.

Sunday's attack occurred near the logistics base of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) in Tal al-Sultan, according to Gaza's government media office.

The Israeli army had previously identified the camp it bombed in Rafah as being "within the safe zones where displaced people were urged to head."

The army claimed that the attack targeted a Hamas compound in Rafah.

The attack has triggered a wave of condemnations from around the world amid accusations for Israel of defying calls to halt its deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip.

Israel has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians in the besieged enclave since a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 last year, which killed around 1,200 people.

The military campaign has turned much of the enclave of 2.3 million people into ruins, leaving most civilians homeless and at risk of famine.

The attack comes despite a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that ordered Israel to halt its offensive in Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.