"They burned once, we burn every day"

The Al-Attar family was praying and getting their children ready for bed in southern Gaza when they heard a loud noise. A fire immediately broke out around their makeshift house, and the children started screaming.

An Israeli airstrike on Sunday night caused a fire in a camp for displaced people in the Tel al-Sultan district of Rafah city. Terrified residents of the camp ran trying to escape the flames, survivors told Reuters.

"Our room was full of shrapnel... Rockets or bombs weighing several tons were falling on the zinc," said Umm Mohamed al-Attar, surveying the destroyed camp of tents and metal houses.

"There was a woman with disabled children who died at the door of her room. What has she sinned against? ... Our neighbor prayed and died, his brain ended up on the wall”.

Gaza health authorities said 45 people were killed, mostly women, children and the elderly. World leaders condemned the tragedy, and Israel's chief military prosecutor called the airstrike "very serious" and said an investigation was ongoing.

Prime Minister Netanyahu said that civilians should not have died in the attack and that something "went tragically wrong."

Thousands of Palestinians have been staying in Tel Al-Sultan since Israeli forces launched a ground offensive in eastern Rafah more than two weeks ago.

After dawn, people searched the ruins for their belongings.

"Gaza is burning every day, every day and every hour. They (Israelis) burned once, but we burn every day". Our children, our elderly, our women and our houses are burning every day in Palestine," said camp resident Jamal al-Attar.

Taking things from the remains of his temporary home, Talal Said Salman said his family would now have to relocate for the eighth time during the war.

"Where should we go - help me understand, where should we go?" he said, carrying a plastic box. "How long will we be humiliated like this?"

Commenting on the Tel Al-Sultan incident, an Israeli government spokesman said initial reports of an airstrike on Hamas commanders in Rafah indicated that a fire broke out after the strike, killing civilians. The Israeli army announced that the investigation into the incident is being carried out by the mechanism of the Joint General Staff.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that civilians should not have been killed in the attack and that it would be investigated.

"We have already evacuated about a million civilians in Rafah and despite our maximum effort not to harm them, something unfortunately went tragically wrong," Netanyahu said in a speech in parliament that was interrupted by shouts from opposition MPs.

"We are investigating the incident and will draw conclusions because that is our policy."

The United States has called on Israel to take all precautions to protect civilians after the "devastating scenes" of the attack in Rafah.

"Israel has the right to attack Hamas, and we understand that in this strike two Hamas terrorists who are responsible for attacks on Israeli civilians were killed," said a spokesman for the National Security Council. “But Israel must take all possible precautions to protect civilians.

Israel continued the attacks despite a ruling by the United Nations' top court on Friday ordering it to stop, arguing that the ruling gives it some room for military action in Rafah.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he was "disgusted" by the latest Israeli attacks. “These operations must stop. There are no safe zones in Rafah for Palestinian civilians,” X posted online.

German Foreign Minister Analena Berbock and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that the verdict of the International Court of Justice must be respected. "International humanitarian law applies to everyone, including Israel in waging war," Berbock said.

Hospitals in Rafah, including the International Committee of the Red Cross Field Hospital, could not accommodate all the wounded, so some were transferred to hospitals in Khan Yunis, further north in Gaza.

The West Bank-based Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the "heinous massacre."

Israel says it wants to eliminate Hamas fighters hiding in Rafah and rescue hostages it says are being held in the area.

However, he has faced global condemnation for failing to spare civilians.

"On top of the hunger and starvation, the refusal to allow aid in sufficient quantities, what we witnessed last night is barbaric," said Irish Foreign Minister Michael Martin.

More than 36.000 Palestinians have died in the Israeli offensive, according to Gaza's health ministry. Israel launched the operation after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israeli communities on October 7, killing about 1.200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.