Gaza City, Jan 7 (IANS) Israel is deliberately targeting civilians in the Gaza Strip, IRNA reported quoting an UN official as saying here Wednesday. The remark came a day after 40 Palestinians were killed at an UN-run school in the salient Tuesday afternoon.

UN spokesman Christopher Gunness told reporters that he was very sure there were no militants or military activity inside the school compound. He called for an independent investigation into the incident, the report added.

Forty people were killed in the attack on the school building. The Israeli military said its soldiers had come under mortar attack from Hamas militants holed up in the school.

A Hamas spokesman, however, denied any such attack from the school.

More than 600 people have been killed and 2,700 others injured since Israel launched its deadly attacks on Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip Dec 27.

An UN official at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza said that at least 195 children have been killed since Israel launched its military operation on the Strip.