Saturday 27 July 2024 13:39, UK
An Israeli airstrike has hit a school in central Gaza, killing at least 30 people, Palestinian health officials have said.
The Hamas-run health ministry said another 100 people were wounded.
The attack hit the Khadija girls' school in Deir al Balah, central Gaza, one of the areas most populated with displaced families.
The Israeli military said it had targeted a Hamas command centre.
It said the school was being used to launch attacks against troops and as a weapons store.
A statement said it had taken "numerous steps" to minimise civilian harm including "appropriate munitions, aerial surveillance and additional intelligence".
Wounded Palestinians have been taken to the nearby al Aqsa Hospital, others arrived there bloodied on foot.
Classrooms were destroyed by the attack and people searched through rubble to find victims and gather remains.
Israel has said Hamas deliberately embeds itself within civilian populations as cover.
Palestinian media said at least 14 people also died in Israeli strikes on Saturday in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.
Israeli military said it had urged people to temporarily evacuate southern neighbourhoods and relocate to a humanitarian area in al Mawasi so it could "forcibly operate" there.
It said the offensive was in response to rocket fire from the area.
It's the second evacuation order in a week that's included striking part of the humanitarian zone, a 60-square-kilometre area full of tent camps.
About 1.8 million Palestinians are sheltering there, according to Israeli estimates, after being repeatedly uprooted by the fighting.
Gaza health authorities say more than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli strikes since the war beganfigures which don't distinguish between fighters and civilians.
About 1,200 Israelis were murdered and more than 200 kidnapped in the October Hamas attack that started the war.
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Israel has pledged to wipe out Hamas but has been strongly criticised over the thousands of deathswhich include many women and childrenand accused of not doing enough to limit civilian casualties, claims it denies.
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