JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s military said Thursday it targeted what it called a “Hamas compound” inside of a school in the Gaza Strip, an attack Hamas-affiliated media reported killed at least 32 people and wounded dozens.
Information about the strike in the Nuseirat area remained contradictory Thursday morning, and The Associated Press could not immediately independently confirm details about the strike.
Hamas’ al-Aqsa television broadcaster reported at least 39 dead, without offering a source for the figures. The Palestinian news agency WAFA said at least 32 people were killed and dozens of others wounded.
The Israeli military said its fighter jets struck the school run by the United Nations agency providing aid to the Palestinians, known by the acronym UNRWA.
The Israeli military claimed, without immediately offering evidence, that Hamas and the Islamic Jihad used the school as cover for their operations.
“Before the strike, a number of steps were taken to reduce the risk of harming uninvolved civilians during the strike, including conducting aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence information,” the Israeli military claimed.
The Nuseirat refugee camp is in the middle of the Gaza Strip. It is a built-up Palestinian refugee camp in central Gaza dating back to the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.
The Israeli military published a graphic of the school, which clearly had “UN” on its roof. The graphic described the strikes targeting two areas of the building on its upper floors.
The war began with Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack inside Israel that killed at least 1,200 people with 250 others taken hostage. The Israeli military campaign in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 36,000 Palestinians, with hundreds of others killed in operations in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
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