GAZA CITY: Gaza’s civil defence agency said Saturday that an Israeli air strike hit a house in Gaza City where displaced Palestinians had taken refuge, killing 11 people, while Israel said it struck a Hamas militant.

“We have recovered the bodies of 11 martyrs, including four children and three women, after an Israeli warplane hit a three-storey house of the Bustan family,” agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

He said that the house in the eastern Al-Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City was hit at around 1:00 am (2200 GMT Friday).

“Several families had taken refuge in the house targeted with a single missile without any prior warning,” Bassal said, adding that many others were wounded.

Bassal said rescuers were continuing to search for people still missing. The Israeli military said its forces had carried out a strike in the area overnight.

“The IDF struck the commander of a Hamas terrorist cell in the area of Daraj Tuffah, who was involved in the planning and execution of terrorist activities against IDF troops and the State of Israel,” the military said in a statement to AFP. “The IDF is aware of claims that several civilians were killed as a result of the strike.” Bassal said Israeli forces carried out similar strikes in other parts of the Hamas-run territory overnight, killing at least 10 people.—AFP