Eyewitnesses said the number of casualties could rise as the mosque was being used to house displaced people. The Israeli military said in a statement it “conducted a precise strike on Hamas terrorists who were operating within a command and control centre embedded in a structure that previously served as the ‘Shuhada al-Aqsa’ Mosque in the area of Deir al Balah”.

Israel has repeatedly targeted Hamas and Hezbollah officials in Lebanon since the Gaza war erupted almost a year ago.

Hamas later said another military wing member was killed in an Israeli strike in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley. The strikes come a day after another Israeli airstrike cut off a main highway linking Lebanon with Syria,

Israel expanded its bombardment in Lebanon, hitting Beirut’s southern suburbs with 12 airstrikes and striking a Palestinian refugee camp deep in northern Lebanon for the first time.