Dozens of people were killed in Rafah late Sunday after an Israeli airstrike hit an area where displaced civilians were sheltering in tents and sparked a fire that tore across the camp, local officials said.

Images showed the area engulfed in flames as screaming Palestinians fled for safety, with some video shared on social media showing disturbing images including severely burned corpses and a man holding what appears to be the headless body of a small child.

The strike drew condemnation from world leaders just days after the United Nations’ top court ordered Israel to halt its offensive on the southern Gaza city where more than a million had sought refuge.

As global outcry mounted, the Israel Defense Forces said it had targeted two senior Hamas leaders, did not strike a designated humanitarian area and took steps to reduce the risk of harming civilians, but said a full probe would be conducted into “the deaths of civilians in the area of the strike.”

Qatar warned it could hinder efforts to reach a cease-fire deal, which had been renewed in Europe over the weekend. Adding to tensions, the IDF said Monday that “a shooting incident occurred on the Egyptian border,” that the incident was under review and that discussions were being held with the Egyptians. Rafah is located on Gaza’s southern border with Egypt.

NBC News was not able to independently verify the situation on the ground.

‘They said it is safe’

The Gaza health ministry reported that at least 35 people had been killed in the Tal al-Sultan neighborhood, the majority of them women and children. First responders had warned the number of casualties could rise as many were trapped in flames that erupted following the bombardment.

And on Monday, the ministry said the death toll had risen to at least 45 people.

“This massacre is the largest in the city of Rafah in months,” the spokesman for the Palestinian Civil Defense in Rafah, Muhammad Al-Mughir, told NBC News. He stressed that the area hit was a designated “humanitarian area” next to U.N. warehouses.

Samuel Johann, the emergency coordinator in Gaza for Médecins Sans Frontières, or Doctor Without Borders, said Sunday’s strike hit just under a mile from an MSF stabilization point for trauma patients. He said the facility received dozens of people, with at least 28 already dead and 180 arriving injured.

A family recounted their terrifying escape after the apartment that they had been staying in was spotted to have been damaged.

“Suddenly, windows shattered,” Hala Siam said to NBC News’ crew on the ground. “The children got scared. We all went out to the street.”

“They said it is safe,” Siam told me about the place she and her family was staying in. “There is no safe place in Rafah.”

The IDF claimed that its strike targeted two Hamas leaders that theyit believed were behind the planning of terrorist attacks within the occupation West Bank area. It also said it was aware that tents for civilians were lit during the attack and it was “under review.”

In a statement following in a subsequent statement, the IDF stated that the strike was in response to “prior intelligence information regarding the presence of the senior Hamas terrorists at the site.” The statement said that prior to the attack “a number of steps were taken to reduce the risk of harming uninvolved civilians” and that “it was assessed that there would be no expected harm to uninvolved civilians.”

It also stated that an investigation was under way to determine “the circumstances of the deaths of civilians in the area of the strike. The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians during combat.”

In the statement, Hamas described the strike as a horrendous “massacre.” It did not announce that the deceased was the leader or commander.

The previous on Sunday, Hamas’ military wing has announced a missile assault on Israel with a focus on Tel Aviv, the first in a number of weeks. The IDF declared that eight projectiles had been identified coming from the region of Rafah to Israeli territory, and the number of them had been stopped.

In the wake of the Sunday’s Rafah attack mediators Qatar as well as Egypt condemned the attack as an infringement in international law. Qatar as a key mediator in negotiations with Hamas has warned that it could hamper efforts towards the conclusion of a truce agreement that could guarantee the release of any remaining hostages.

After talks over the weekend with CIA Director William Burns in Paris, an Israeli official informed NBC News the Israeli government was hopeful talks will be reopened next week.

However, French the president Emmanuel Macron said he was “outraged by the Israeli strikes that have killed many displaced persons in Rafah,” and added that “these operations must stop.” The EU’s Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell also condemned the strike, saying the strike felt “horrified.”

A spokesperson from the U.S. National Security Council confirmed after Sunday’s strike that: “We’re aware of the reports and gathering more information.”

In a press conference last Wednesday prior to an International Court of Justice ruling, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stated that Israel’s military actions were “more targeted and limited.”

The President Joe Biden had been vocal warning that any major attack on Rafah could result in him having to stop the delivery of specific weapons.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has faced increasing scrutiny of the way Israel conducts the conflict that it started following the Hamas-led Oct. 7. attack. Around 1,200 people were killed while 250 more were taken hostage, officials say and 125 of them are believed to be held in Gaza with about a quarter thought to have died.

Over 35,000 persons were killed in Gaza during the seven months of fighting according to health officials in the area. Aid groups have warned of dire situations for the civilian population who have no access to water and food and could cause food shortage in some areas in the Gaza enclave.