GAZA CITY, Gaza (AP):

An Israeli bombardment hit outside a United Nations (UN) school where hundreds of Palestinians had sought refuge yesterday, and Palestinian medics said at least 34 people died as international outrage grew over civilian deaths.

It was the second fatal strike in the vicinity of a UN school in hours, and the deadliest incident since Israel sent ground forces into Gaza last weekend.

The ground operation is part of a larger offensive against the ruling Hamas militant group that has killed over 600 Palestinians, including dozens of civilians, according to UN and Palestinian officials.

Nowhere safe

Ignoring international calls for a ceasefire, Israeli soldiers edged closer to Gaza's major population centres.

A total of 58 Palestinians were killed yesterday in fighting - with just two confirmed as militants, health officials in Gaza said.

"There's nowhere safe in Gaza. Everyone here is terrorised and traumatised," John Ging, the top UN official in Gaza, said after the first strike on the compound of a UN school killed three people.

A Palestinian rocket - one of two dozen fired from Gaza yesterday - wounded an Israeli infant.

The UN said three civilians were killed in the first air strike late on Monday on the courtyard of its school, where hundreds of people from a Gaza City refugee camp had sought shelter from Israel's blistering 11-day offensive.

Children among dead

There was a second Israeli strike about 10 yards (metres) outside a UN school in the northern Gaza town of Jebaliya. Witnesses reported several explosions, and it was not immediately clear whether they were caused by Israeli air strikes or tank shells.

Dr Bassam Abu Warda, director of Kamal Radwan Hospital, said 34 people were killed.

"I saw a lot of women and children wheeled in," said Fares Ghanem, another hospital official. "A lot of the wounded were missing limbs and many of the dead were in pieces."

Majed Hamdan, an AP photo-grapher, said he rushed to the scene shortly after the attacks.

He said many children were among the dead.

Protesters hurl a huge shoe effigy towards the Israeli Embassy in Manila's financial district of Makati city yesterday in continuing protest against Israeli attacks in Gaza. Protesters condemned both Israel and the United States for the alleged "brutal and bloody all-out military invasion of Gaza" and urged the United Nations to sanction Israel for bombings. - AP PHOTOS