Eight Israeli soldiers have been killed in a blast that engulfed their armoured vehicle in southern Gaza, in the biggest loss of life for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in a single incident since January.

The deaths came amid continuing fighting around Rafah in which at least 19 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes.

According to the IDF, the squad of combat engineers were in a convoy of half a dozen armoured vehicles returning from a mission at about 5am on Saturday morning in the Tal al-Sultan area of the southern Gaza city when their vehicle was destroyed.

According to reports in the Israeli media, the IDF was investigating whether the vehicle exploded after being targeted or following the accidental detonation of explosives which the soldiers had been transporting in their vehicle.

The explosives had been stored on the vehicle’s exterior, a tactic reportedly used to avoid harm to the occupants in the event of detonation. The blast occurred after several other vehicles had already passed the same location, and killed all those inside immediately.