Israeli assault kills 45 in Rafah tent camp

An Israeli airstrike triggered a fire that killed 45 people in a tent camp in the Gazan city of Rafah, officials said on Monday.

Palestinian families rushed to hospitals to prepare their dead for burial after a strike late on Sunday night set tents and rickety metal shelters ablaze.

At least 45 people were killed and more than 200 others injured after a fire broke out at the camp following the strike, most of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and Palestinian medics. No hospital in Rafah had the capacity to take the number of casualties, the ministry said.

Survivors said families were preparing to sleep when the strike hit the Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood, where thousands were sheltering after Israeli forces began a ground offensive in the east of Rafah over two weeks ago.

Israel's military, which is trying to eliminate Hamas in Gaza, said it was investigating reports that a strike it carried out against commanders of the Islamist militant group in Rafah had caused the fire.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strike had not been intended to cause civilian casualties.

"In Rafah, we already evacuated about 1 million non-combatant residents, and despite our utmost effort not to harm non-combatants, something unfortunately went tragically wrong," he said in a speech in parliament that was interrupted by shouting from opposition lawmakers.

This provoked an outcry from global leaders who urged the implementation of a World Court order to halt Israel's assault.