Eight Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli air strike on a training college near Gaza City being used to distribute aid, Palestinian witnesses say, as Israeli tanks pushed further into the southern city of Rafah.
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Sunday's strike hit part of a vocational college run by the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA that is now providing aid to displaced families, the witnesses said.
"Some people were coming to receive coupons and others had been displaced from their houses and they were sheltering here. Some were filling up water, others were receiving coupons, and suddenly we heard something falling. We ran away, those who were carrying water let it spill," said Mohammed Tafesh, one of the witnesses.
A Reuters photographer saw a low-rise building completely demolished and bodies wrapped in blankets laid out beside the road, waiting to be taken away.
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," it added.
Hamas denies Israeli accusations that it uses civilians as human shields or civilian facilities for military purposes.
Juliette Touma, UNRWA's director of communications, said the agency was looking into details of the reported attack before providing more information.
Meanwhile Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the phase of intense fighting against Hamas is coming to an end but the war will continue until the Islamist group no longer controls the Gaza Strip.
Once the intense fighting is over in Gaza, Netanyahu said, it will allow Israel to deploy more forces along the northern border with Lebanon, where fighting has escalated with Iran-backed Hezbollah.
"After the intense phase is finished, we will have the possibility to move part of the forces north. And we will do this. First and foremost for defensive purposes. And secondly, to bring our (evacuated) residents home," Netanyahu said in an interview on Sunday with Israel's Channel 14.
"If we can we will do this diplomatically. If not, we will do it another way. But we will bring (the residents) home," he said.
Many Israeli towns near the border with Lebanon have been evacuated during the fighting.
Asked when the phase of intense fighting against Hamas will come to an end, Netanyahu answered: "Very soon".
Netanyahu also reiterated his rejection to the idea that the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority run Gaza in place of Hamas.
Israel's ground and air campaign in Gaza was triggered when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1200 people and seizing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
The offensive has killed almost 37,600 people, according to Palestinian health authorities, and left Gaza in ruins.
Australian Associated Press
