Israel denies Rafah camp strike caused deadly fire, says Hamas weapons to blame

The Israeli military denied that its airstrike near a Rafah camp on Sunday caused the fire that killed at least 45 displaced civilians, saying an explosion from a Hamas weapons cache was likely. responsible – as new reports allege US munitions were used in the weekend assault.

Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters on Tuesday that the Rafah airstrike targeted a “closed structure far from the tent,” describing the deaths in the refugee camp as “unexpected and involuntary.

Hagari, however, claimed that Israel used two of the “smallest munitions” possible in the strike, which he said could not have caused the deadly fire.

“Our munitions alone could not have started a fire of this magnitude,” he said. “We are investigating all possibilities, including the possibility that weapons stored in a compound next to our target, which we were unaware of, could have ignited as a result of the attack.”

Sunday's incident sparked international outrage over the Israeli operation in Rafah, the most populous city in southern Gaza, where more than a million refugees had gathered after fleeing other parts of the war-torn enclave.

Israel has repeatedly denied its missiles hit the refugee camp, with Hagari pointing out that a preliminary investigation showed “secondary explosions” at the site.

“We are working to verify the cause of the fire,” Hagari said. “It is still too early to be determined.

“Even when we find the cause of the fire that broke out, it will not make the situation any less tragic,” he added.

The Israeli investigation into the fire comes amid claims that a US-made GBU-39 small-diameter bomb was likely used in Sunday's airstrike, according to a CNN analysis.

Several artillery experts who viewed footage of the bombing and its aftermath all attributed the Israeli explosion to the GBU-39, manufactured by Boeing.

Experts told CNN that the munitions are small, precise and typically used to try to minimize “collateral damage.”

The Pentagon and the U.S. National Security Council have not commented on the type of munitions used in the airstrike.

President Biden previously said he would not authorize the use of certain US weapons in a major operation in Rafah.

White House spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday that the Israeli offensive in Rafah had not yet crossed Biden's “red line,” while defending the Israeli action and comparing it to the mistakes of calculation made by America in Iraq and Afghanistan when civilians were killed.

“Now obviously this had tragic results, and this obviously needs to be investigated, and we need to know why, even using small diameter precision guided munitions, this was able to happen, but we’ll have to let the Israelis get to the bottom of it,” Kirby said.

While denying responsibility for the deadly fire, the IDF refuted claims that it carried out an attack on another refugee camp west of Rafah on Tuesday.

The Hamas-run Health Ministry said an Israeli tank fired into the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone, killing at least 21 people.

With post wires