According to Palestinian media reports, at least 22 people have been killed in a fire in a four-story apartment building in a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.
As the Wafa news agency reported on Thursday evening, several children are said to be among the dead.
Numerous people were injured.
The fire broke out on the top floor of an apartment in Jabalia during a celebration and spread to the rest of the building.
It took over an hour to get it under control.
The interior ministry in the Gaza Strip said large quantities of petrol were stored at the site, contributing to the rapid spread of the flames.
The head of the hospital in Jabalia, Salah Abu Leila, told the AFP news agency that the fatalities had arrived at his clinic.
A representative of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank said the authority had asked Israel to open the Eres crossing so that the injured could be treated.
Israel and Egypt also announced that they would lift the blockade of the Hamas-controlled coastal region for victims of the fire so that they could receive medical treatment.