An Israeli air strike on a school in Gaza City has killed at least 22 Palestinians, mostly women and
children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it targeted a Hamas command centre at al-Falah school, which Israel said the militant group was using to “plan and carry out terrorist attacks against IDF troops and the State of Israel”.
The school, closed during the war, was housing displaced people, the health ministry said.
The IDF said it took steps to mitigate the risk of harming civilians and accused Hamas of exploiting civilian infrastructure.
The IDF said it used precise munitions and aerial surveillance to reduce civilian risk. It alleged that Hamas “systematically violates international law by operating from inside civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip and exploiting the Gazan civilian population for its terrorist activities”.
Hamas has denied using schools and other civilian sites for military purposes.
The Hamas-run government media office said the people killed in Saturday’s strike in the al-Zaytoun area included several children and six women.
Gaza’s civil defence agency reported the same death toll and added that one of the women was pregnant.
