Israeli attack on school - many dead

The war between Israel and Hamas
Israeli attack on UN school in Gaza

Astrid Larsson

Updated 10.14 | Published 04.34

Palestinians mourn dead after attack on UNRWA school. Photo: Abdel Kareem Hana/AP

Israel attacked a UN school in central Gaza during the night of Thursday.

According to Israel's military, the school housed a Hamas compound.

The Al Aqsa hospital is said to have received at least 30 dead bodies, AP reports.

The school run by the UN agency Unrwa is located in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

"Warplanes carried out a precision strike against a Hamas compound embedded in a UNRWA school in the Nuiserat area," Israel's military (IDF) said in a statement, adding that Hamas members who took part in the October 7 terror attack in Israel were said to have been at the school .

But according to the Hamas-run press department in Gaza, the school housed refugees.

At least 30 dead in the attack

The death toll has not been determined, but the Al Aqsa hospital in Dayr al-Balah in central Gaza is said to have received at least 30 bodies after the attack, the AP news agency reports, citing documents from the hospital.

UNRWA's head of communications, Juliette Touma, told Reuters that it could be between 35 and 40 dead.

According to the Hamas-controlled press department, dozens have also been injured in the attack. Pictures taken by the AP show several dead bodies lying on the ground outside al-Aqsa hospital.

IDF: Took steps to reduce civilian casualties

At the same time, the IDF states that several measures were taken to reduce the risk of civilian casualties in the attack.

"The terrorists ordered terrorist actions from the school premises, and they used it as a hiding place for civilians. Terrorists who were planning to carry out attacks against our forces in the near future were killed in the attack," the IDF wrote in a statement.

Ismail al-Thawabta at the Hamas media office denies that a Hamas camp is hidden in the school.

- The occupying power uses lies and false, fabricated stories to justify this brutal crime against tens of displaced people, he told Reuters.