"Another heinous massacre was committed by the Israeli forces in Rafah, which so far has claimed the lives of 50 martyrs and left dozens injured, most of them children and women," said a spokesman for the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.

The Israeli military confirmed the airstrike on the Tal al-Sultan area, "based on precise intelligence" and targeting two senior Hamas operatives, Yassin Rabia and Khaled Nagar.

"The Hamas leadership in Judea and Samaria [the occupied West Bank] is responsible for planning, financing and executing terror attacks throughout Judea and Samaria and inside Israel," an Israeli military statement said of the strike on Tal al-Sultan, a neighbourhood that Israeli forces had not yet ordered evacuated and which was home to hundreds of displaced people.

Footage posted on Palestinian social media showed a large fire caused by the airstrike engulfing tents.

"We are aware of reports that as a result of the strike and the fire that was ignited, a number of civilians in the area were injured. The incident is being reviewed," the military said of the strike.

According to Israel, Yassin Rabia "managed all Hamas terror activity in Judea and Samaria, transferred funds to terror operatives and planned terror attacks", including in the past, notably in 2001 and 2002 during the second intifada, "in which IDF soldiers were killed".

Tel Aviv said Nagar "led shooting attacks and other terror activities in Judea and Samaria, and transferred funds intended for Hamas terror activity in the Gaza Strip".

It added that he had carried out a number of attacks between 2001 and 2003 that resulted in the deaths of Israeli civilians and soldiers.

"Never before in history have so many instruments of mass murder been used in full view of the world, as is happening now in Gaza, where the population is deprived of water, food, medicines, electricity and fuel, destroying infrastructure and all institutions," the Gaza health ministry said.

It said that in the past 24 hours, 190 Palestinians had been killed in new massacres, including this one, in the so-called "safe zone" of camps west of Rafah city, it added.

The Israeli strike on Rafah came hours after Hamas fired eight rockets from the area towards central Israel, including Tel Aviv, for the first time in about four months, causing no serious damage or injuries.

The Palestinian Authority spokesman also condemned the "deliberate targeting by the occupation army" of the tents of the displaced in Rafah, causing a "massacre that has crossed all red lines".

In the occupied West Bank, hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets in several cities, including flashpoints such as Jenin and Tulkarem, to protest against the attack.

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