Israeli strike kills at least 35 at Rafah displaced persons centre

Dozens have been killed by an Israeli airstrike at a centre run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Gaza officials said, branding it a "horrific massacre".

The strike on Rafah comes two days after the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to end its military offensive in Rafah. Source: AAP / Haitham Imad

Israeli strikes on an area designated for displaced people killed dozens in a "massacre" near the southern city of Rafah, Gaza officials said.

The Gaza health ministry said in a statement that the strikes "claimed the lives of 35 martyrs and left dozens injured, most of them children and women".

The government media office in Gaza said earlier that the strike hit a centre run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees near Rafah, branding it a "horrific massacre".

The Israeli army said it had targeted Hamas militants.

Israel's army said its aircraft "struck a Hamas compound in Rafah", killing Yassin Rabia and Khaled Nagar, both senior officials for the Palestinian militant group in the occupied West Bank.

It added that it was "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."

Israel's army said at least eight rockets were fired towards central areas of the country from Rafah, with strikes targeting the commercial hub of Tel Aviv for the first time in months.

Fighting has recently centred on Rafah, where Israel's military launched a ground operation in early May despite widespread opposition over concerns for civilians sheltering there.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said its ambulance crews transported "a large number" of people killed and injured in the Rafah strikes.

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The Palestinian presidency in the West Bank called it a "heinous massacre", accusing Israeli forces of "deliberately targeting" the tents of displaced people.

Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli strikes killed and wounded at least 50 people in the area, where it said 100,000 displaced people live.

Strikes on Tel Aviv

Hamas' armed wing said Sunday that it targeted Tel Aviv "with a large rocket barrage in response to the Zionist massacres against civilians".

"Hamas launched these rockets from near two mosques in Rafah," Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said.

"Hamas is holding our hostages in Rafah, which is why we have been conducting a precise operation" there.

The United Nations has warned of looming famine in besieged Gaza, where most hospitals are no longer functioning.

Last Monday, the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court said he was seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence minister as well as for three top Hamas figures.

And on Friday, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to halt its Rafah offensive or any other operation there that could bring about "the physical destruction" of the Palestinians.