Israeli strike on Gaza school kills 40, including children. Military claims it was used by Hamas
- Israel’s military said it took steps to reduce the risk of harm to civilians before the strike by fighter jets
Israel hit a Gaza school on Thursday in an air strike that it said targeted and killed Hamas fighters inside, while a Hamas official said 40 people including women and children were killed as they sheltered in the UN site.
Ismail Al-Thawabta, the director of the Hamas-run government media office, rejected Israel’s assertion that the UN school in Nuseirat, in central Gaza, had hidden a Hamas command post.
“The occupation uses … false fabricated stories to justify the brutal crime it conducted against dozens of displaced people,” Thawabta said.
Israel’s military said it had taken steps to protect civilians before its fighter jets carried out a “precise strike”, circulating satellite photos highlighting two parts of a building where it said the fighters were based.
“We’re very confident in the intelligence,” military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner told a briefing with reporters, accusing Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters of deliberately using UN facilities as operational bases.
He said 20–30 fighters were located in the compound, and many had been killed, but had no precise details as intelligence assessments were being carried out. “I’m not aware of any civilian casualties, and I’d be very, very cautious of accepting anything that Hamas puts out,” he said.
