Over ‘100 dead’ in Israeli strike at Gaza school, IDF claims it was ‘Hamas base’

“The death toll is now between 90 to 100 and there are dozens more wounded. Three Israeli rockets hit the school that was housing displaced Palestinians,” agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP. Gaza’s government media office said there were “more than 100 martyrs” in the strike.

The Israeli attack against the school led to a massive fire on the premises, and rescue operations to help trapped Palestinians is currently underway. Describing the strike as “horrific”, the agency said that some bodies “caught on fire” during the attack.

“The crews are trying to control the fire to retrieve the bodies of the martyrs and rescue the wounded,” Bassal said.

This comes after the Israeli military conducted strikes against two schools in Gaza on Thursday, killing at least 18 people. The Israeli military said at the time it had struck Hamas command centres.

Rescue teams were unable to reach the women and children trapped in the flames of the Gaza school as the Israeli authorities have cut water in the area, reported Al Jazeera.

According to media reports from Gaza, three rockets hit the school as people were attending morning prayers inside the building. The school was being used as a shelter for people displaced amid the war between Israel and Hamas, said local media reports.

Israeli military said that terrorists were running their operations from inside the school hit in the airstrike. In its statement, the military further said that “several steps were taken to reduce the possibility of civilian casualties”.