Strike on Gaza university kills three: staff, hospital

An Israeli strike on a university in Gaza City killed three people on Sunday, staff and a local hospital said, while the civil defence agency reported five others killed elsewhere in the territory.

Reached for comment on the strike at the Islamic University, the Israeli army said that it was currently under review.

Al Shifa hospital reported receiving three bodies and treating eight people who were wounded in the drone strike, with two sources at the university saying the dead were employees and the injured were students.

The university said the campus and its surroundings had been targeted twice on Sunday, condemning the attacks and mourning those killed in a statement. 

Gaza's education ministry likewise condemned the strike and said "the global silence regarding attacks on students and universities serves as encouragement for the continuation of these crimes".

"This strike occurs at a time when the higher education sector is facing total annihilation, with 95 percent of the buildings belonging to academic institutions having been damaged as a result of the war," it continued. 

"This heinous assault is part of a continuous series of attacks on education; over the past six days, 10 students and educators have been killed by the occupation's fire."

In a statement, the army said it had been "targeting a terrorist from Hamas' military wing". 

"Following the identification of uninvolved individuals in the area, the munition was diverted in order to mitigate harm to them. The incident is under review," it said, without specifying whether those killed at the university were hit by accident.

A truce has been in effect in Gaza for over a year, but has failed to completely halt the violence there.

Gaza civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal said five other people were killed on Sunday, three in strikes around the southern city of Khan Yunis, one in central Deir al Balah and one northwest of Gaza City. 

One more person was wounded by Israeli gunfire in Jabalia refugee camp in the north.

bur/smw/jfx