The Sunday night airstrike killed Hamas commanders Yassin Rabia and Khaled Nagar in a compound in the Rafah neighborhood of Tel Sultan. The pair were responsible for coordinating and funding terror attacks in Judea and Samaria

According to the IDF, the area of the compound had been used for Hamas activities. Just 47 meters away from the site of the strike was a rocket launcher and launching pit. The compound was one kilometer away from the humanitarian zone and the IDF said it used two small munitions to prevent collateral damage in the nearby camp. The IDF stressed that the 17-kilogram warheads used were not powerful enough on their own to trigger the fire

The military believes the fire was likely caused by secondary explosions from Hamas munitions or some other material it was not aware of

"We have a suspicion, following intelligence surveillance and analysis of the videos from the event that were distributed on social networks, that secondary explosions at the site were caused by Hamas ammunition storage. This suspicion is under investigation," the IDF said

The IDF also released a recording of two Rafah residents specifically saying the fire was caused by Hamas explosives

"They say that they [the Hamas commanders killed] sat in a meeting, and that there is [a facility] and in addition, there was ammunition that began to explode. Bags of money scattered in the air," one Palestinian said

Asked if the exploding ammunition "is really ours," the first Palestinian replied, "Yes, it is an ammunition depot. The bombardment by the Jews was not strong. It was a small missile, because it did not create a large hole. And then explosions began"

Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry claims the fire killed 45 Palestinians, a number that has not been independently verified

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council is due to hold a closed-door emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss the situation in Rafah