The Palestinian Islamist movement "Hamas" reported yesterday that about 15 people were killed and dozens were injured in an Israeli airstrike on a school in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central part of the Gaza Strip, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
Earlier, the Israeli military said it had targeted several Palestinian militant group fighters in the area of a United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) school, which it said was being used by "Hamas" as a hideout and base of operations. They noted that the Israeli military has taken numerous measures to minimize the risk to civilians.
The claims of both sides cannot be independently verified, DPA points out.
Israeli forces recently carried out an airstrike on a school building in Nusseirat, where the army says several militants are hiding. The Israeli military said precision munitions were used to avoid civilian casualties. Immediately before this strike, an attack on a former UNRWA school, which has served as a refuge for refugees since the beginning of the war in Gaza, killed 16 people, according to "Hamas".
The Israeli army once again stated that "Hamas" systematically violates international laws by using civilian objects, including schools, as cover, and the population as human shields.