Israeli warplanes bomb Islamic University in Gaza

Israeli fighters jets struck the Islamic University in Gaza City on Wednesday, an AFP correspondent and an official with the Hamas-linked institution said.

"The intense air strikes destroyed completely some buildings of the Islamic University," Ahmed Orabi of the university management told AFP.

"No one can enter it due to the fires, and the rocks and rubble scattered on the roads surrounding the university," he said.

Thick clouds of dust billowed into the sky as the buildings collapsed, the AFP correspondent reported.

Israel has launched a massive air campaign against Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas since the group's fighters mounted a shock cross-border assault on Saturday and went on a deadly rampage through Israeli communities near the border.

The fighting has left at least 1,200 dead in Israel and more than 900 in Gaza.