Dozens of Palestinians killed in Israeli air strike on UN school in Gaza

The death toll from an Israeli air strike on a school sheltering thousands of displaced civilians in central Gaza has risen to 40, according to Palestinian authorities.

The victims included 14 children and nine women in the attack on a school run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in the Nuseirat refugee camp Wednesday night, the Palestinian government media office in Gaza said in a statement on Thursday

Some 74 displaced civilians were also injured, including 23 children and 18 women, it added.

According to the media office, at least 149 shelters were attacked by Israeli forces in Gaza since last October.

The Israeli army "brutally committed these massacres despite its knowledge of the presence of tens of thousands in displacement centres," it added.

The Israeli army, for its part, admitted hitting the UNRWA school in the Nuseirat refugee camp, claiming Hamas fighters were hiding inside.

Eight months of Israeli offensives

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since an October 7, 2023 Hamas blitz despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire.

Nearly 36,600 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority being women and children, and over 83,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Eight months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in its latest ruling has ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.