Baby among 9 dead as Israeli shells Gaza UN school

At least nine people were killed, including a baby, when an Israeli shell slammed into a UN-run school in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday, an AFP correspondent said.

Emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra put the toll as high as 15 dead and dozens injured, with more bodies and wounded expected to arrive at nearby hospitals.

A spokesman for the UN's Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA separately confirmed "multiple dead and injured" at the school in Beit Hanun, which was being used as a shelter by hundreds of Palestinians fleeing a major Israeli operation in the area.

"Precise coordinates of the UNRWA shelter in Beit Hanun had been formally given to the Israeli army" Chris Gunness said on his Twitter account.

AFP's correspondent saw nine bodies, including those of a one-year-old child and his mother at a morgue in nearby Beit Lahiya.

Trails and splashes of blood could be seen at the site of the shelling.

Another UN official told AFP that at around 14:50 (1150 GMT) a shell had landed "in or near" the school, adding that UNRWA had tried to ask people to leave shortly beforehand, fearing it might be a target.

"We were talking to the shelter asking them to leave, as we feared it was a potential target," the official said. - AFP