At least 16 people were killed and dozens of others injured after Israel struck a school in central Gaza on Saturday, Palestinian officials said.
The air strike targeted a school that was sheltering displaced Palestinians, said officials from Gaza’s ministry of health.
However, Israel said their strike was targeting Hamas militants who were using the area as a hideout to plan and carry out attacks against its soldiers. It also said it took precautions to minimise damage to civilians before launching the air strike.
Hamas denied its fighters were there. Many of the dead were children, according to eyewitnesses.
“We came here running to see the targeted area, we saw bodies of children, in pieces, this is a playground, there was a trampoline here, there were swing-sets, and vendors,” Ayman al-Atouneh, a resident, told Reuters news agency.
