A blast went off at a building on the premises of the St. Porphyrius Greek Orthodox Church campus in Gaza City on Thursday night while dozens of Palestinian families were sheltering there. Rescuers were pulling people out of the rubble, several of whom were injured, according to people at the site.

Majdy Jildah, who had been seeking refuge at the church, said about 500 people had been sheltering on the church campus, including about 80 in the church council building where the explosion occurred. He said he believed a child was killed. Dozens were inside the assembly hall of the church, which was also damaged. The church is one of the oldest in the world. The Israeli military said it is looking into the incident.