Gaza, Jul 7 (IANS): At least 16 people have been killed while several others injured in an Israeli air strike on a school in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials have said.

According to the Hamas-run health ministry, the building was sheltering thousands of displaced people.

In a statement posted on social media platform X on Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that the Air Force struck “several terrorists operating in structures located in the area of UNRWA’s Al-Jaouni School in central Gaza”.

“This location served as both a hideout and operational infrastructure from which attacks against IDF troops operating in Gaza were directed and carried out,” it added.

The IDF further said that numerous steps were taken prior to the strike in order “to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise aerial surveillance and additional intelligence”.

The IDF also accused Hamas of systematically violating international law by “exploiting civilian structures and the civilian population as human shields for its terrorist attacks” against Israel.