UN Compound In Gaza City Is Burning Out of Control

The United Nation's central storehouse in Gaza for humanitarian aid is on fire. Three workers have been injured as the fire rages out of control.

It is not known which of the armed forces were the ones that hit the compound in Gaza City on Thursday. Hundreds of refugees were inside the compound when it came under attack. The compound had only just this morning been opened to the hundreds of Gaza City residents seeking sanctuary. Staffers at the building have told CNN that Israel used white phosphorous shells in the attack. CNN reports:

It's a very big fire, and we're not able to get it under control at the moment," Ging said. With gun battles going on around the facility, "the emergency services are not able to get to us."

During the shelling a hospital, five apartment buildings and a media outlet center were struck. Several journalists have been harmed in this pounding by Israel. The Associated Press offices had bullets swirling where two staffers were working. Those workers were not injured. The Foreign Press Association has demanded that Israel stop the attacks on press buildings. Both sides have the locations of all press buildings. The Al Quds hospital found itself under attack trapping its 400 patients and staff inside the main building. A pharmacy building was set on fire during the shelling. Gunfire was also observed around the building. It is not clear how many people were wounded during that attack. Earlier thousands of residents, many in sleeping apparel, fled their homes in the Tel Hawwa neighbourhood as Israeli ground forces raided. Some of the residents pleaded with ambulances and journalists in armored cars to take them into a U.N. compound. On Thursday CARE, a private relief agency, announced that they are canceling distribution of food and medical aid until the fighting has seized in the region.