An Israeli air strike hit a central Gaza school, with the territory’s civil defence agency reporting 14 killed in the facility turned displacement shelter and the military saying it had targeted fighters, AFP reports.

The Al-Jawni school in central Gaza’s Nuseirat, already hit several times during the onslaught, was struck again, civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

“The number of martyrs has risen to 14”, he said, updating an earlier toll of 10 killed in the “Israeli bombing of Al-Jawni school” which also wounded numerous people.

AFP was unable to independently verify the toll, which the spokesman said included several women and children.

The Israeli military said its air force had “conducted a precise strike on terrorists who were operating inside a Hamas command-and-control centre” on the school grounds, without elaborating on its outcome or the identities of those targeted.

The Gaza government media office said about 5,000 displaced people were sheltering at the school, which used to be run by the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA, when it was hit.