No less than 16 people have been killed in an Israeli air strike on a school in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials have said.
Over 50 people have been reportedly injured in the attack on the building which served as shelter to thousands of displaced people at Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Footage from the scene shows adults and children screaming in a smoke-filled street covered in dust and rubble, as they run to help the wounded.
The Israeli forces said the air strike was targeted at several “terrorists operating in structures located in the area of Al-Jaouni School”.
Eyewitness accounts stated that the attack was aimed at the upper floors of the school, which is located near a busy market.
Up to 7,000 people used the building as shelter, according to a report.
One woman told a news agency that some children were killed as they were reading the Koran when the building was hit.
“This is the fourth time they have targeted the school without warning,” she said.
A local source said the target was a room allegedly used by Hamas police. The BBC is unable to verify this claim.
The IDF in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, confirmed the attack, but added that it had taken “numerous steps” to “mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise aerial surveillance and additional intelligence”.
According to the statement, Hamas militants were using the location as a “hideout” to carry out attacks against IDF troops.
“Hamas continues to systematically violate international law by exploiting civilian structures and the civilian population as human shields for its terrorist attacks against the State of Israel,” it added.
Meanwhile, Hamas has described the attack as a “massacre” on “defenseless displaced civilians”.
Many of the dead and wounded were women, children and the elderly, the group claimed via its English language Telegram channel.
The latest incidents come after hopes began to rise in recent days that a deal between Israel and Hamas was on the horizon, following months of false starts.
Source: BBC News
