"Six Palestinian police officers killed as a result of the Israeli occupation targeting their vehicle in the Khirbat al-Adas neighbourhood in Rafah," a ministry statement said.

Witnesses said the officers had been securing the passage of a flour truck when Israeli aircraft hit their car, ripping the passengers to pieces.

An AFP photographer at the scene saw blood sprayed across part of the crushed vehicle, bearing a police emblem on the hood.

First responders covered a body with blankets and loaded it into a damaged ambulance.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strike when contacted by AFP.

Palestinian police officers have been brought in to secure aid convoys travelling through Gaza, where desperate residents have clambered aboard trucks in search of vital supplies.

There have been repeated strikes on vehicles and buildings in Rafah, which is crammed with more than half of Gaza's population.

Israel's bloody war on Gaza has killed at least 27,585 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

The Israeli war has displaced more than 85 percent of Gaza's 2.3 million residents and sparked a catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the besieged territory.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online