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A devastating fire that ripped through a house north of Gaza City where fuel was being stored killed at least 21 people including 7 children on Thursday, 17th November. Gaza's civil defence unit confirmed in a statement that 21 people had indeed been killed and the head of the Indonesian Hospital in Jabalia, Saleh Abu Laila, told AFP that the facility had received the bodies of at least seven children. While the cause of the fire remained unknown, a spokesman for the civil defence unit told AFP that supplies of fuel were stored in the house.

Jabalia is a refugee camp, but like many such Palestinians camps, now includes large buildings and in many respects resembles a city. Crowds remained on the street, with hundreds of police and emergency response workers on hand, after the blaze had been extinguished.