A large fire that ripped through a house north of Gaza City used to store fuel killed at least 21 people, including seven children, on Thursday, official and medical sources said.
Hamas Islamists, who control the Israeli-blockaded Palestinian enclave, said firefighters managed to contain the fire in Jabalia, which left charred walls and mounds of black soot before it was extinguished.
Gaza’s civil defense unit confirmed in a statement that 21 people had been killed.
The head of Indonesia’s Jabalia hospital, Saleh Abu Laila, told AFP that the facility received the bodies of at least seven children.
While the cause of the fire remained unknown, a spokesman for the civil defense unit told AFP that fuel supplies were stored at the house.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is stationed in the Israeli-occupied West Bank — a separate Palestinian territory — regarded the fire as “a national tragedy,” his spokesman said.
Abbas on Friday declared a day of mourning with flags to be flown at half-mast and offered to send aid to victims’ families to “alleviate their suffering,” spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said in a statement.
Senior PA official Hussein Al Sheikh called on Israel to open the Erez Crossing, which connects Gaza to southern Israel and is normally closed at night.
This would allow seriously injured patients to be transported “to treat them outside of the Gaza Strip if necessary,” Al Sheikh said.
A spokesman for COGAT, the Israeli Defense Ministry unit that manages the Erez Crossing, told AFP that Israel will provide assistance through the transit point “if necessary”.
– Flames are common –
A large crowd of onlookers gathered on the street in front of the multi-story home as the fire raged, sending plumes of smoke billowing from the concrete building’s roof.
Jabalia is a refugee camp, but like many such Palestinian camps, it now includes large buildings and resembles a city in many ways.
Crowds remained in the streets, with hundreds of police and rescue workers after the fire was extinguished.
Gaza, which is densely populated with 2.3 million people, has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007, a measure Israel deems necessary to contain threats from armed groups in Gaza.
Because electricity is scarce in the impoverished area, house fires are common as Gaza residents seek alternative sources of cooking and light, including kerosene lamps.
According to United Nations data, Gaza received electricity from the grid for an average of 12 hours a day this year, up from just seven hours five years ago.
New dangers arise in winter when many people burn coal for heating.
Hamas said an investigation is underway to determine the cause.
