Extract from ABC News
Eight Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli air strike at a United Nations aid centre housing displaced families near Gaza City, as Israeli tanks pushed further into the southern city of Rafah.
The strike on Sunday hit part of an industrial college run by the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Palestinian witnesses said.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
UNRWA's director of communications Juliette Touma said the agency was looking into the details of the reported attack before providing more information.
"Since the beginning of the war, we have recorded that nearly 190 of our buildings have been hit," she said.
"This is the vast majority of our buildings in Gaza."
One witness said that some victims were visiting the centre and others had been displaced from their houses and were sheltering there.
"Some were filling up water, others were receiving coupons, and suddenly we heard something falling," Mohammed Tafesh said.
"We ran away, those who were carrying water let it spill."
A Reuters photographer reported seeing a low-rise building completely demolished and bodies wrapped in blankets laid out beside the road, waiting to be taken away.
"We pulled out martyrs [from beneath the rubble], one who used to sell cold drinks and another who used to sell pastries and others who distributed or received coupons," Mr Tafesh said.
The Israeli military said the site, which it said had served in the past as a UNRWA headquarters, has been used by Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants.
It added that precautionary measures were taken before the strike to reduce the risk of harming civilians.
"This morning [Sunday], IAF fighter jets directed by IDF and ISA intelligence struck terrorist infrastructure in which Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists were operating," the military said in a statement.
"This is another example of Hamas' systematic exploitation of civilian infrastructure and the civilian population as a human shield for its terrorist activities."
Hamas denies Israeli accusations it uses civilians as human shields or uses civilian facilities for military purposes.
Juliette Touma, UNRWA's director of communications, said the agency was looking into the details of the reported attack before providing more information.
"Since the beginning of the war, we have recorded that nearly 190 of our buildings have been hit. This is the vast majority of our buildings in Gaza," she said.
A total of 193 UNRWA team members have been killed in the conflict, she added.
The attack comes after multiple strikes in southern Gaza on Friday which killed at least 45 Palestinians as troops engaged in close-quarter combat with Hamas militants.
More than eight months into the war in Gaza, Israel's advance is now focused on the last two areas its forces have yet to seize: Rafah, on Gaza's southern edge, and the area surrounding Deir al-Balah in the centre.
Reuters
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