The UN Security Council was set to convene an emergency meeting Tuesday over an Israeli strike that killed dozens in a displaced persons camp in Rafah, as three European countries were slated to formally recognise a Palestinian state.

AFP journalists on the ground early Tuesday reported fresh Israeli strikes overnight in the southern Gaza border city, where an Israeli attack targeting two senior Hamas members on Sunday night sparked a fire that ripped through a displacement centre, killing 45, according to Gaza health officials.

Spain, Ireland and Norway formally recognised a Palestinian state on Tuesday in a coordinated decision slammed by Israel as a "reward" for Hamas, more than seven months into the devastating Gaza war.

The three European countries believe their initiative has strong symbolic impact that could encourage others to follow suit.

After Ireland's government formally approved the measure, Prime Minister Simon Harris said the aim was to keep Middle East peace hopes alive.

A Beirut design fair has made a comeback after Lebanon's economic meltdown forced a four-year hiatus, with some pieces on display in spaces devastated in a deadly 2020 port explosion.

We Design Beirut, which ended Sunday, exhibited work from more than 150 designers and artisans for four days in several locations in the Lebanese capital.

The fair aimed "to showcase the diversity of Lebanese design despite the country's difficulties", said Mariana Wehbe, who launched the event with industrial designer Samer Alameen.

Several dozen journalists demonstrated in Tunis on Monday against what they called the "repression" of freedoms and called for the release of two convicted colleagues, an AFP journalist said.

Around 60 protesters chanted "Freedom for the Tunisian press", "The police state is old news" and "The judiciary is under orders" outside the headquarters of the national journalists' union (SNJT).

Men cleared away the charred debris of shelters and children salvaged food in Gaza's southern city of Rafah on Monday after an Israeli strike torched a camp for displaced Palestinians.

"People were not just injured or killed, but charred," 24-year-old Mohammed Hamad told AFP in the aftermath of the strike that killed at least 45 people.

The death toll came from the health ministry in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, which also said that 249 people were wounded in the strike.

An Egyptian appeals court on Monday upheld a one-year jail sentence for opposition politician Ahmad al-Tantawi, who was then arrested "inside the courthouse", lawyer Nabeh Elganadi told AFP.

Tantawi, who had hoped to run against President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in elections last year, was found guilty of election campaign irregularities in February.

"The sentence at the time was suspended on bail until the appeal today," Elganadi said, adding that Tantawi was arrested as soon as the decision was declared.

Israel faced a wave of international condemnation Monday over a strike that Gaza officials said killed 45 people when it set off a fire that ripped through a tent city for displaced Palestinians.

Israel said it was looking into the "tragic accident" and its impact on civilians after the latest mass casualty event in the Gaza war, which has raged since October 7.

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Monday it had filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court over Palestinian journalists killed or injured in Gaza.

RSF said it was asking the ICC's prosecutor to investigate alleged war crimes committed by the Israeli army against at least nine Palestinian reporters since December 15.

The ICC said in January it was probing potential crimes against journalists since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza, which has cost the lives of more than 100 reporters.

The sister of an Israeli hostage whose body was recovered from Gaza last week struck a solemn tone Sunday as she laid him to rest after thousands attended his funeral.

"I feared this ending but I wanted so much for it to end differently," Avivit Yablonka told AFP at the funeral of her brother Chanan.

Chanan, 42, was murdered on October 7 in Hamas's unprecedented attack, while trying to escape from the Nova music festival where at least 364 people were killed.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Sunday hosted Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Mustafa for international talks on building up the Palestinian Authority to eventually take over Gaza rule from Hamas.

A "strong" Palestinian Authority is needed to bring peace in the Middle East, Borrell said just before going into the meeting with Mustafa.

The talks were being held as efforts were narrowing to try to find a Gaza truce and a hostage-release deal.