2nd lead

At least 10 people were killed at a United Nations school in Rafah following an Israeli airstrike according to Palestinian officials, as fighting continued in the Gaza strip.

The attack, the second on a UN school this week, also killed at least one UN staffer. Adnan Abu Hasna, a spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency in Gaza, said:

"It is believed that there was an air strike that hit outside the gate of an UNRWA school, a designated shelter for at least 3,000 displaced residents."

The Telegraph obtained a video of the aftermath of the strike here.

International condemnation of UNRWA school shelling

The United States condemned the attack as "disgraceful" and added that the coordinates of the school had "been repeatedly communicated to the Israeli Defense Forces".

"The suspicion that militants are operating nearby does not justify strikes that put at risk the lives of so many innocent civilians," the US added in a statement released on Sunday shortly after the attack.

Full statement:

The United States is appalled by today's disgraceful shelling outside an UNRWA school in Rafah sheltering some 3000 displaced persons, in which at least ten more Palestinian civilians were tragically killed. The coordinates of the school, like all UN facilities in Gaza, have been repeatedly communicated to the Israeli Defense Forces. We once gain stress that Israel must do more to meet its own standards and avoid civilian casualties. UN facilities, especially those sheltering civilians, must be protected, and must not be used as bases from which to launch attacks. The suspicion that militants are operating nearby does not justify strikes that put at risk the lives of so many innocent civilians. We call for a full and prompt investigation of this incident as well as the recent shelling of other UNRWA schools.

We continue to underscore that all parties must take all feasible precautions to prevent civilian casualties and protect the civilian population and comply with international humanitarian law.

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said the attack was "a moral outrage and a criminal act", AFP reports.

"This madness must stop," he added.

Describing the attack as "unacceptable", the French president Francois Hollande said "those responsible for this violation of international law answer for their actions."