An Israeli airstrike at a school in Gaza on Thursday claimed the lives of more than 35 people, with many more injured, according to local officials. 

The Israel Defense Forces defended the “precise attack” on the compound embedded within a school in Nuseirat and said it took out 20-30 terrorists, some of whom it alleged participated in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. 

The Palestinian Ministry of Health, led by Hamas, said in a social media post those killed in a strike on the Al-Nusseirat Boys Preparatory school included 14 children and nine women. 

The death toll has not been independently verified. The Gaza Ministry of Health has been repeatedly accused of dramatically inflating the death toll following an attack.

Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, an Israeli military spokesman, said he was “not aware of any civilian casualties.”

“We conducted a precise strike against the terrorists where they were,” he said.

Khalil Daqran, a spokesman for the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the Gaza city of Deir al Balah, said 40 bodies were brought to the hospital, including women, children, and seniors, though he did not provide precise numbers for each.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital is now the only functioning hospital in central Gaza and has been operating at three times its normal capacity. 

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Thursday’s assault comes one day after the Israeli military announced a new ground and air assault in central Gaza, claiming Hamas militants have regrouped there. 

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.