Gaza’s civil defense 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 injured several others at the Asma school in Gaza City’s Al-Shati refugee camp, the civil protection agency said, as rescuers searched for more victims under the rubble.

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

The Gaza government press office said the reporters killed in the strike were from Saed Radwan Al-Aqsa TVHamza Abu Salmiya from Sanad News Agency and Haneen Baroud, who works for Al-Quds Foundation.

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

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

Taheer al-Rantisi said he “saw a plane destroy the building, which crashed on people” there, calling the attack “a massacre”.

The Palestinians sheltering in the school building included “innocent children and the elderly,” Rantisi said.

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

Paramedic Hussein Mohsen said displaced people who sought refuge there have come Jabalia and elsewhere in northern Gaza, where Israeli forces have launched a massive assault since early October, killing hundreds of Palestinians.

“This is not the first time the Israeli occupation has targeted schools,” Mohsen said.

In recent months, the military has struck several schools that have become shelters, despite their UN-affiliated status.

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

Israel’s military assault on Gaza killed 42,924 Palestinians on Saturday and thousands more remain unaccounted for as many fear they are buried under the rubble.

Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip have been described as genocide by NGOs and several experts.