Gaza rescuers say 15 killed in Israeli strike on school turned shelter

Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli shelling late Sunday had killed at least 15 people at a school serving as a shelter for displaced Palestinians in central Gaza's Nuseirat camp.

The vast majority of the besieged Gaza Strip's 2.4 million people have been displaced at least once by the war, sparked by Hamas's 7-October attack on Israel, with many seeking shelter in school buildings.

"The Al-Mufti school was bombarded with a large volley of Israeli artillery, resulting in an initial death toll of 15 martyrs, including children, women and entire families, and 50 wounded," said Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the agency.

"This school shelters hundreds of displaced people from different families, including some from Gaza, the south, and various parts of the Gaza Strip," he added.

The Israeli military said it was "looking into the reports". The attack comes just days after an Israeli air strike on a school killed at least 28 people in Gaza's Deir el-Balah.

Israel's military regularly accuses Hamas of hiding in school buildings where thousands of Gazans have sought shelter -- a charge denied by the Palestinian militant group.

Civilians have borne much of the brunt of the Israeli onslaught, which according to Gaza's health ministry has killed at least 42,227 people over the past year, a majority of them civilians. The United Nations acknowledges the figures to be reliable.

Hamas triggered the ongoing conflict in Gaza with the deadliest-ever attack on Israel on 7 October, 2023. It resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.