Israel suggests secondary detonation as potential cause of fire in Rafah camp

Photo: Israeli military (Getty Images)

The Israel Defense Forces presented preliminary findings of the investigation into the airstrike in the vicinity of the Tel al-Sultan refugee camp, located in the western part of the city of Rafah, according to the press service of the Israeli army.

The Israeli military claims that on the night of May 26, aircraft destroyed Hamas commanders Yassin Rabia and Khaled Najjar with two strikes on a complex located 1.7 kilometers from the humanitarian zone of Tel al-Sultan.

The IDF also assures that it thoroughly verified intelligence information before the attack to avoid civilian casualties, and the airstrikes used 17-kilogram warheads that couldn't cause extensive destruction.

According to preliminary findings, the extensive fire in the camp could have been caused by the secondary detonation of ammunition on the ground.

The Israel Defense Forces suspect that ammunition, weapons, or other materials that could explode were stored in the strike area. The military marked on a map a rocket launcher which was 43 meters from the site of the strike on Hamas commanders.

It is noted that the investigation is still ongoing.

What preceded it

On May 26, the Israel Defense Forces struck the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip in response to the shelling of Tel Aviv by Hamas militants. As a result of the attack, more than forty Palestinian civilians were killed, in addition to terrorists.