At least 35 people have been killed after Israeli airstrikes hit a refugee camp of displaced civilians in the southern Gazan city of Rafah according to medics.
The charity Médecins Sans Frontières said the strike hit a camp for displaced people in the neighbourhood of Tal Al Sultan.
"We are horrified by this deadly event, which shows once again that nowhere is safe. We continue to call for an immediate and sustained ceasefire in Gaza," it said in a short statement on Sunday.
Footage from the scene showed heavy destruction with women and children understood to be among the dead.
It comes after Hamas launched rocket attacks towards Tel Aviv for the first time in months.
Image from the Israeli Defence Forces shows rockets launched from Rafah toward Israel, 26-5-24. Image: IDFThe Israeli military claims its aircraft struck a "Hamas compound" in Rafah in which "significant Hamas terrorists were operating".
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said it is "aware of reports indicating that as a result of the strike and fire that was ignited several civilians in the area were harmed. The incident is under review".
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said at least 35 people have died, "most" of them women and children.
In a statement, Hamas condemned the attack on what it claimed was "an area crowded with hundreds of thousands of displaced people".
'Humanitarian area'
The strike took place in western Rafah where thousands of people were taking shelter after many fled the eastern areas of the city where Israeli forces began a ground offensive over two weeks ago.
A spokesperson with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the death toll was likely to increase as search and rescue efforts continued.
The society said the location had been designated by Israel as a "humanitarian area" and that people remain trapped amid the destruction.
On Friday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to halt its Rafah offensive, with the Hague-based court branding the humanitarian situation there as "disastrous".
Israel insists it is key to its self-defence and goal of destroying Hamas entirely.
Hamas rockets
The strike on Rafah comes after Hamas launched rocket attacks from Gaza towards Tel Aviv earlier on Sunday.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage in what appeared to be the first long-range rocket attack from Gaza since January, although Palestinian militants have continued to sporadically fire rockets and mortar rounds at communities along the Gaza border since then.
The Israeli military said eight projectiles crossed into Israel after being launched from the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where Israeli forces recently launched an incursion.
Israel's Iron Dome defence system intercepted several of the missiles, it added.
Earlier on Sunday, aid trucks entered Gaza via Israel's Kerem Shalom crossing for the first time since a new aid agreement was struck.
Aid routes were rediverted after Egypt closed its side of the Rafah crossing over Israel's decision to seize control of the Gaza side.
It is unclear whether humanitarian groups will be able to access incoming aid because of ongoing fighting in Rafah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing growing pressure to make a deal with Hamas to free its remaining hostages after several bodies were recovered recently.
There were large protests in Tel Aviv on Saturday night with scuffles breaking out between protesters and police.
Now in its eighth month, the Israel-Hamas war has killed almost 36,000 Palestinians according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.
The vast majority of Gaza's two million-strong population has been displaced.
Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7th last year killed 1,200 people, with militants taking some 250 hostages, around 100 of whom remain in captivity in Gaza.
Reporting by: IRN
