IDF airstrike hits Gaza school ‘being used as Hamas command centre’ – with at least 30 dead, say Palestinian officials
AN IDF airstrike has devastated a school in Gaza, leaving at least 30 Palestinians dead, say health officials.
The Israeli military say they blasted the building in Deir al Balah in central Gaza as it was being used as command centre for the Hamas terrorists.
The area which was hit is believed to be one of the most populated places in Gaza with hundreds of displaced families being moved there after months of fighting.
Gaza health ministry also say over 100 others were left wounded.
The Israeli military released a statement after the school was hit saying they had targeted a “Hamas command and control center inside the Khadija school compound in central Gaza”.
The statement added the school was being used to launch attacks against IDF soldiers as well as a weapons cache.
Civilians were warned and told to evacuate the area before the strike, the IDF claimed.
At Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah, ambulances raced wounded Palestinians into the medical facility.
Some of the wounded also arrived on foot, with their clothes stained with blood.
In previous such strikes that have hit civilian infrastructure, Israel’s military has blamed the militant Islamist group Hamas for putting civilians in harm’s way, accusing it of operating within densely populated neighbourhoods, schools and hospitals as cover.
Hamas denies this.