Israel-Gaza updates: Death toll in Rafah airstrike rises to 50: Action Aid UK

The death toll in the IDF airstrike that hit western Rafah Sunday night has risen to at least 50 individuals, including civilians, according to Action Aid UK.

The organization said Israeli fighter jets launched eight missiles at makeshift shelters housing internally displaced persons next to UNRWA warehouses stocking vital aid.

"We are outraged and heartbroken by the recent attacks in West Rafah," Action Aid UK said in a statement Sunday.

"These shelters were supposed to be safe havens for innocent civilians, yet they became targets of brutal violence," the organization continued. "Children, women, and men are being burned alive under their tents and shelters."

Action Aid UK expects the number of casualties to rise.

-ABC News’ Victoria Beaule

A deadly airstrike has killed at least 35 people inside western Rafah, near the UNRWA logistics base in Tal Al-Sultan, according to officials at the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.

Numerous individuals remain stuck in a fire that resulted from the airstrike and in the tents destroyed by the bombardment.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the airstrike to ABC News in a statement on Sunday and acknowledged that civilians were harmed as a result of the strike.

"A short while ago, an IDF aircraft struck a Hamas compound in Rafah in which significant Hamas terrorists were operating. The strike was carried out against legitimate targets under international law, using through the use of precise munitions and on the basis of precise intelligence that indicated Hamas' use of the area," the IDF said.

"The IDF is aware of reports indicating that as a result of the strike and fire that was ignited several civilians in the area were harmed," the IDF continued, adding, "The incident is under review."

-ABC News' William Gretsky

Palestinian medic sources tell ABC News that at least 25 people are dead following a strike in northwest Rafah on Sunday night, near the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) headquarters there.

The area is densely populated with tents for internally displaced people, the sources said.

In a statement, the Palestine Red Crescent Society claimed "Israeli aircraft have shelled several tents in this area," resulting in injuries and deaths.

"Many have been transported to the Tal Al-Sultan clinic and the field hospitals near the sea in Rafah. Currently, numerous individuals remain trapped under the flames and in the tents destroyed by the bombardment," the organization said in its statement.

ABC News has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment.

-ABC News' Samy Zyara and Anna Burd

Sirens sounded in Tel Aviv on Sunday for the first time in months as Hamas' armed wing confirmed it launched a rocket attack on Israel's largest city.

Hamas' armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, released a statement saying it had launched a rocket attack on Tel Aviv from Rafah.

"We bombed Tel Aviv with a large rocket barrage in response to the massacres against civilians," the statement said.

The Hamas fighters also posted an accompanying video showing what appeared to be rocket trails in the sky.

Israel Defense Forces said sirens sounded across central Israel Sunday after "eight projectiles were identified crossing from the area of Rafah into Israeli territory.

"A number of the projectiles were intercepted by the IDF Aerial Defense Array," the IDF statement said.

Israel's National Emergency Medical Service (MDA) said it received no reports of serious injuries.

"Following the Red Alert sirens heard in the center of the country: MDA teams did not locate casualties at any of the scenes, except for a patient who was lightly injured on the way to the protected space, and a number of victims with stress symptoms," the MDA said in a statement.

The IDF said later Sunday that it conducted an airstrike on the area where rocket launchers were used to direct rockets toward Tel Aviv, which the IDF said in a statement was "situated near two mosques in the area of Rafah."

Hamas has launched rocket attacks toward the areas around Gaza throughout the war but has not launched longer-range rockets in months. Sirens had not sounded in Tel Aviv in four months from Gaza-related rocket attacks.

-ABC News' Victoria Beaule