he Hamas militant group says an explosion has ripped through one of its military compounds in the Gaza Strip and wounded a number of women and children.

In a statement, Hamas did not give a cause for the blast. The Israeli military says it wasn't involved, signaling that the explosion was an accident.

The explosion shook through a densely crowded neighborhood in the southern Gaza town of Rafah. Hamas says five children, three women and five other people were lightly wounded, all by flying glass shrapnel.

The Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights has repeatedly called on the territory's Hamas rulers not to store explosive materials in civilian areas.

It said a similar explosion in August wounded 58 people and destroyed seven houses.

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