Gaza's civil defense agency said on Saturday, September 21, that an Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter in the Palestinian territory's largest city killed at least 19 people, while Israel's army said it was targeting Hamas militants.
"Civil Defense crews recovered 21 people, including 13 children and six women," one of whom was pregnant, said agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal, noting that thousands of displaced people had sought shelter at the school in Gaza City.
Israel's military said in a statement the air force had "conducted a precise strike on terrorists who were operating inside a Hamas command and control center in Gaza City."
it said the target was "embedded inside" the Al Falah School, which is adjacent to the Al-Zaytoun School buildings. An Agence France-Presse (AFP) reporter at the scene said Al-Zaytoun School C had been hit.
The military did not provide a death toll but said "numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance and additional intelligence."
It is the latest in a series of Israeli strikes on school buildings housing displaced people in Gaza. A strike on the United Nations-run Al-Jawni School in central Gaza on September 11 drew international outcry after the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said six of its staffers were among the 18 reported fatalities.
The Israeli military accuses Hamas of hiding in school buildings where many thousands of Gazans have sought shelter – a charge denied by the Palestinian militant group. The vast majority of the Gaza Strip's 2.4 million people have been displaced at least once by the ongoing war, which was triggered by Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel.