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March 9 (UPI) -- Israeli military forces hit a large residential tower in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza overnight on Saturday, causing major damage to the 14-story building. The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the strike to the Al-Masry Tower, saying it "precisely targeted a military asset."
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Israeli officials claimed the structure was being used in part by Hamas militants.
Built in the 1990s, the tower is considered the tallest and oldest building in Rafah, a city with a population of around 171,000.
Reports of casualties were not immediately available, although most of the building's approximately 300 residents have been forced to evacuate the structure.
Residents living in the building were told to evacuate prior to the strike, the Washington Post confirmed.
Israel's military strikes have so far not stretched into this area of southern Gaza. The IDF said "noncombatants in the area were evacuated before the strike was carried out" on the tower.
The operation comes one day after airdropped aid packages from an unidentified country killed five children and injured several others in Gaza, according to Palestinian officials.
Aid continues to slowly trickle into the Palestinian territory.
Britain, the European Union, United Arab Emirates and United States said Friday they would cooperate to build a sea corridor to ship aid to the temporary port the United States is constructing on the coast of Gaza.
The majority of the 2.3 million people living in Gaza have been displaced since Israel began its military campaign there, following the October 2023 attack by Hamas militants that killed over 1,100 people.
