An Israeli air strike flattened the 8-storey Palestinian Foreign Ministry building in Gaza City on Monday, part of a campaign against Palestinian government.

A separate air strike gutted the offices of a Hamas-led security force in Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip, witnesses said.

The Israeli military has since killed more than 85 Palestinians in Gaza. A gunman shot by troops in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun on Sunday died of his wounds, medics said.

The Foreign Ministry building, which was badly damaged in a previous Israeli air strike, was completely destroyed by the early morning blast, which tore into nearby homes, shops and offices, witnesses said.

At least nine Palestinians were injured, most of them children.

"The explosion was so powerful that it knocked my children out of their beds, crying and screaming," said Umm Mohammed, who lives in an apartment across the street from the Foreign Ministry building.

Umm Mohammed said the blast knocked out windows in the room where her children were sleeping.

Israel has bombed several buildings used by Hamas and its elected leaders, including the office of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.

Hamas, which controls the Palestinian government, is demanding that Israel free Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit's release. Israel has rejected any exchange.

PHOTO CAPTION

An Israeli soldier prays near a mobile artillery unit as it fires into southern Lebanon from its position near the town of Kiryat Shmona July 17, 2006. (Reuters)