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The Gaza civil defence agency said Israel struck a UN-affiliated school building sheltering displaced Palestinians on Sunday, killing at least nine people, including three journalists.

The strike killed nine people and wounded several others at Asma school in Gaza City's Al-Shati refugee camp, the civil defence agency said, as rescuers were searching for more victims under the rubble.

The agency said six bodies had already been identified, including one of a girl.

Gaza’s Government Media Office said the killed reporters in the strike were Saed Radwan from Al-Aqsa TV, Hamza Abu Salmiya from Sanad News Agency and Haneen Baroud, who works for al-Quds Foundation.

Their deaths bring the total of journalists killed in Gaza to 180, according to Al Jazeera, in one of the most dangerous combat zones in recent decades.

Israel has also targeted and killed journalists in Lebanon, with at least a dozen dead.

Taheer al-Rantisi said he "saw a plane destroying the building, which collapsed on top of the people" there, calling the attack "a massacre".

The Palestinians sheltering at the school building included "innocent children and elderly" people, said Rantisi.

When the strike hit, "all the people and children were torn apart", he said.

Paramedic Hussein Mohsen said the displaced people who had sought refuge there had come from Jabalia and other parts of north Gaza, where Israeli forces have carried out a sweeping assault since early October, killing hundreds of Palestinians.

"This is not the first time that the Israeli occupation has targeted schools," Mohsen said.

In recent months, the military have struck several schools-turned-shelters, despite their status as UN-affiliated.

In recent days, tens of thousands of Palestinians have fled Israel's major ground and air assault in northern areas of the besieged Gaza Strip.

Israel's military onslaught in Gaza has killed 42,924 Palestinians as of Saturday, with thousands more unaccounted for, as many are feared to be buried under rubble.

Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip have been described as a genocide by NGOs and multiple experts.