Sharjah24 - AFP: At least 20 people were killed in a fire at a house north of Gaza City on Thursday, the head of a nearby hospital stated.

"At least 20 bodies arrived," Salah Abu Laila, the head of the Indonesian Hospital in Jabalia said, confirming that they had been "burned" in the blaze.

Hamas Islamists, who control the Israeli-blockaded Palestinian enclave, said the cause of the fire remained unknown and that several others had been injured, without providing figures.

A senior official with the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank, Hussein Al Sheikh, said in reaction to the blaze that the PA had urged Israel to open the Erez crossing between Gaza and Israel for urgent medical evacuations of serious cases.