An Israeli air strike on a UN school packed with hundreds of displaced people in central Gaza has killed at least 27 people, according to local officials.
Local journalists said that an Israeli warplane fired two missiles at classrooms on the top floor of the school in the Nuseirat refugee camp.
Israel’s military said it “conducted a precise strike on a Hamas compound embedded inside” the school.
The Hamas media office has accused Israel of committing a “horrific massacre”.
Ambulances and rescue teams have been rushing the wounded and dead to a nearby hospital.
Ismail al-Thawabta, director of the Hamas media office, rejected Israel’s claims that the UN school had hidden a Hamas command post.
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces said it had killed Hamas and Islamic Jihad “terrorists” who took part in the 7 October attack on southern Israel, when around 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
At least 36,580 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
The IDF said it had taken steps before the air strike to “reduce the risk of harming uninvolved civilians”.
