A fire at a displaced persons camp in Rafah, following an airstrike, was likely caused by Hamas munitions, according to a preliminary military investigation by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The Sunday night airstrike killed Hamas commanders Yassin Rabia and Khaled Nagar in the Tel Sultan neighborhood of Rafah. These commanders were involved in orchestrating and financing terror attacks in Judea and Samaria.
The IDF reported that the compound where the strike occurred had been utilized for Hamas operations. Located 47 meters from a rocket launcher and launching pit, the compound was also one kilometer away from a humanitarian zone. To minimize collateral damage, the IDF used two small munitions, with 17-kilogram warheads, which were not powerful enough to cause the fire on their own.
The military suspects that the fire resulted from secondary explosions of Hamas munitions or other materials present at the site. “We have a suspicion, following intelligence surveillance and analysis of the videos from the event that were distributed on social networks, that secondary explosions at the site were caused by Hamas ammunition storage. This suspicion is under investigation,” the IDF stated.
The IDF also released a recording of two Rafah residents claiming the fire was caused by Hamas explosives. One Palestinian mentioned, “They say that they [the Hamas commanders killed] sat in a meeting, and that there is a facility and in addition, there was ammunition that began to explode. Bags of money scattered in the air.” Another resident confirmed that it was an ammunition depot, noting that the initial bombardment was weak and didn’t create a large hole, but subsequent explosions followed.
The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza claims the fire killed 45 Palestinians, though this number has not been independently verified.
The UN Security Council is scheduled to hold a closed-door emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss the situation in Rafah. This incident occurred amid the backdrop of a recent ruling by the International Court of Justice, which, due to its ambiguous wording, is unlikely to limit military operations in Rafah.
Rafah, located on the Gaza-Egypt border, is considered Hamas’s last stronghold, housing an estimated four battalions. Israel’s delegation to the ICJ reported that of the 700 tunnels identified in Rafah by the military, about 50 crossed into Egypt. These tunnels are used for smuggling weapons and potentially for moving hostages out of the Gaza Strip.
Israel assumed control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing on May 7 to prevent Hamas from seizing humanitarian aid deliveries from Egypt. In Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7, at least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage. Out of the 125 remaining hostages, 39 are believed to be dead.