Dozens of people have been killed or injured in an explosion at a refugee camp in the Rafah area, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
Footage from the scene in the southern Gaza Strip showed a large blast and intense fires.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported targeting two senior Hamas leaders at one of the group’s compounds and stated they would investigate claims that the fire had spread to shelters, harming civilians.
The strike occurred hours after Hamas launched eight rockets from Rafah towards Tel Aviv, marking the first long-range attacks on the city since January.
In a statement released after the Gaza blast on Sunday night, the IDF claimed to have “eliminated” two senior Hamas figures, Yassin Rabia and Khaled Nagar, in a “precise” air strike “in north-west Rafah.”
The IDF said it had targeted Hamas militants using precision weapons.
Hamas-run authorities reported that 35 people had been killed and dozens injured at a camp for displaced Palestinians northwest of Rafah, an area away from recent military operations and designated as a humanitarian safe zone.
Women and children were among the casualties.
The death toll is expected to rise as search and rescue efforts continue in Rafah’s Tal al-Sultan neighborhood, approximately 2 km (1.2 miles) northwest of the city center, according to a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent Society quoted by the Associated Press.
An eyewitness told Reuters news agency the whole neighbourhood in Tal Al-Sultan had been “burnt”.
Another witness, Fadi Dukhan, described sitting at the door of a house when he heard an explosion.
“Suddenly we heard the sound of a missile,” he told Reuters. “We ran and found the street covered in smoke. We did not see anything.”
Entering a house, he added, he did not find anyone inside but later found “a girl and a young man who had been cut into pieces”.
Earlier on Sunday, air raid sirens blared around Tel Aviv as central Israel came under attack from Hamas rockets launched from near Rafah.
The eight rockets were intercepted by air defense systems or landed in fields.
Israel’s military offensive in Rafah has continued despite the International Court of Justice’s ruling on Friday that it must halt.
The rocket barrage underscores the ongoing threat Hamas poses to people across Israel, although no injuries were reported.
It also highlights the challenges the Israeli army faces as it advances further into southern Gaza to eliminate Hamas from what it considers its “last major stronghold.”
Hamas’s military wing stated that the rocket attack was in response to “the massacre of civilians.”
The attack occurred ahead of further ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, expected to resume next week.
Israel launched a long-anticipated offensive in Rafah about three weeks ago, aiming to destroy the remaining Hamas battalions there.
Israel also believes that hostages are being held in the town.
More than 800,000 Palestinians have fled Rafah since the offensive began, according to the UN. About 1.5 million people had been seeking shelter there from fighting elsewhere in Gaza.
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza commenced after Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israel on October 7, killing approximately 1,200 people and taking 252 hostages back to Gaza.
Since the start of the war, nearly 36,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.