GAZA — At least 28 people have been killed in an Israeli air strike on a school sheltering displaced families in the central Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Red Crescent says.

More than 50 others were injured in the attack on Rufaida al-Aslamia school, which the medical organization said was close to its headquarters in the town of Deir al-Balah.

A video from the scene showed people running to help the injured amid a cloud of smoke and dust, while several children were pictured being treated at the local al-Aqsa hospital.

The Israeli military said the “precise” strike targeted Hamas fighters operating inside a "command-and-control center” at the school.

It also said it had taken steps to mitigate harm to civilians and accused Hamas of systematically abusing civilian infrastructure - an allegation the group has previously denied.

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry also put the death toll at 28 and denounced what it called a “new massacre” by the Israeli military.

Many schools have been turned into shelters for the 1.9 million Palestinians who have fled their homes since the war in Gaza started a year ago.

The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the group's unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

More than 42,060 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's health ministry. — BBC