Israeli attack hits school grounds in Gaza Strip where charity was teaching children attack drills

The Israeli military also said there was a “high probability” that the commander of the Islamic Jihad Central Camp Brigade, Ashraf Judah, was at the scene. However, it was unclear whether he was killed in the attack.

Israeli officials did not provide any evidence to support their claims.

The Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), Israel's military liaison with the Palestinians, did not respond specifically to questions about the notifications that Humanity & Inclusion said it had sent to Israeli officials, but added that coordinating movement requests within Gaza can be “complex.”

Meanwhile, the Israeli military reiterated earlier statements that it had taken “numerous steps” to reduce the risk of harm to civilians.

Bloody remains

Video shot by the NBC News team on the scene in the hours after the attack shows bodies wrapped in bloody shrouds as adults and children wander around the site. Wires hang from the ceiling, rubble and debris cover the red-stained floor, where bedding, books, a cell phone case and cans of food are scattered.

Nearly two weeks after the attack, Noah Al-Sharnouby, a first responder with Gaza's Civil Defense Authority, said he was still traumatized by what he saw at Tabeen School.

“Wherever you went, there were body parts,” he said. “Wherever you went, there were women and innocent children.”

Al-Sharnouby said he climbed the stairs and found the head of an elderly man next to a small fire.

“I pushed my head out of the fire… my body was shaking – I couldn't bear the sight,” he added.

Many of the bodies were burned and dismembered beyond recognition, Gaza Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal told NBC News. In some cases, officials had no choice but to gather together unidentified remains to create a whole body for those who had identified parts of their loved ones.

“Hands, legs, heads and viscera were packed in a bag and given to the citizen who identified the body of his relative,” said Basal.

According to the Gaza Civil Defense Authority, at least 93 people were killed in the attack. Dr. Ahmed Radi of Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City said the number could be even higher.

“Only about 80 were recognized by their families, and over 20 people were recognized by no one,” said Radi. “It was the worst thing I have ever seen.”

Mustafa Mahany, who had been seeking shelter at Tabeen School since October after his home was destroyed, told NBC News he could not find his eldest son's body.

“We only saw parts of his body,” he said.

Mahany said in the days following the attack, he learned that two of his other children had also been killed. A fourth was injured, he said.

“I want to file a complaint against Israel,” Mahany said.

Bomb made in the US

The Israel Defense Forces did not respond to questions about the dozens of civilians local authorities, rescue workers, humanitarian organizations and hospital staff said were killed in the attack. Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a video statement shared on X that intelligence had indicated there were “no women and children” in the targeted area.

The Israeli military also stated that “numerous steps” had been taken to reduce the risk of harm to civilians, including the “use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance and intelligence.”

It said that the three types of ammunition used in the attack “cannot cause the damage” reported by health authorities and rescue workers in the Gaza Strip, and that “no serious damage was caused to the area attacked.”

Video taken by the NBC News crew on the scene shows parts of the building's interior and exterior heavily damaged but intact, with the floor covered in rubble and debris.

Three munitions experts told NBC News that at least one of the weapons used in the attack appeared to be a GBU-39, a US-made 250-pound Boeing precision bomb, according to an analysis of a video shared on social media and verified by NBC News. The US is Israel's largest arms supplier.

Although the GBU-39 is designed for precision strikes and to reduce collateral damage, Richard Weir, an arms researcher at Human Rights Watch, told NBC News that the weapon could still have significant effects even if detonated in enclosed and densely populated spaces.