35 people were killed and dozens were injured after an Israeli rocket hit a center for displaced people in the town of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, AFP reported.
The Hamas-run health ministry said the strikes "claimed the lives of 35 martyrs and left dozens wounded, most of them children and women."
Earlier, the Gaza government's media office said the strike hit a center run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees near Rafah, describing it as a "horrific massacre".
The Israeli army (IDF) said its aircraft "strike a Hamas compound in Rafah", killing senior Hamas officials Yassin Rabia and Khaled Nagar.
The IDF added that it was "aware of reports that several civilians in the area were injured as a result of the strike and the fire."
The Israeli military said at least eight rockets were fired from Rafah toward central Israel, the first time in months that strikes were aimed at the Tel Aviv shopping center.
Fighting has recently been centered in Rafah, where the Israeli military launched a ground operation in early May despite widespread opposition over concerns about civilians hiding there.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said its ambulance teams transported "a large number" of those killed and wounded in the Rafah strikes.
The Palestinian presidency in the West Bank called it a "heinous massacre", accusing Israeli forces of "deliberately targeting" the tents of displaced people.
Hamas said that the Palestinians should "stand up and march" against the Israeli army's "massacre" in Rafah./BGNES