GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Palestinians were shaken on the evening of Nov. 17 after a fire that erupted in a residential building that the Abu Raya family owns in Jabaliya refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip, killing 21 people including eight children. 

The family was celebrating the return of one of its members from abroad on the top floor of the apartment building when the fire broke out, burning down the entire apartment and killing everyone inside, mostly women and children.

In a press conference held in Gaza City Nov. 17, spokesperson for the Interior Ministry Iyad al-Bozom announced the formation of a committee to investigate the cause of the fire. “Preliminary investigation showed that a large amount of gasoline stored inside the apartment contributed to the massive fire and to the high number of deaths,” he told reporters. 

Gaza Strip residents tend to store gasoline in their apartments to operate their private generators in light of the continuing power cuts, reaching up to 16 hours a day. The power crisis in the besieged enclave has been ongoing since Israel bombed Gaza’s only power plant on June 28, 2006.