Gaza rescuers say 14 dead in Israeli attack on school

The vast majority of Gaza's 2.4 million residents have been displaced at least once by the war sparked by Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, with many seeking shelter in school buildings.

Israeli forces have attacked several such schools in recent months, claiming that Palestinian militants are active there and are hiding among displaced civilians. Hamas denies these allegations.

The Al-Jawni school in central Gaza's Nuseirat district has been hit several times during the war, but was hit again on Wednesday, Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Bassal told AFP.

“The number of martyrs has risen to 14,” he said, updating the previously mentioned figure of 10 dead in the “Israeli bombing of the Al-Jawni school,” in which numerous people were also injured.

AFP could not independently confirm the number of victims. According to the spokesman, several women and children are among them.

The Israeli military said its air force carried out “a targeted attack on terrorists operating inside a Hamas command and control center” on the school premises, but did not provide further details on the outcome or the identities of the targets.

The Hamas government's media office said that around 5,000 displaced people had sought refuge in the school, which was formerly run by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), on Wednesday.

Al-Jawni was hit at least five times in the more than 11 months of war, Bassal said.

In July, at least 16 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike that the military said was aimed at “terrorists.”

According to the Gaza Strip's Health Ministry, at least 41,084 people have been killed in the Israeli military offensive since the October 7 attack. The UN Office for Human Rights says most of the dead are women and children.

The Hamas attack on southern Israel that sparked the war left 1,205 people dead, most of them civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures, which also includes hostages killed in captivity.