Gaza’s civil defence agency said an Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter killed at least 17 people in the Palestinian territory’s central Nuseirat area, while the military reported it had hit Hamas fighters, AFP reports.

The Israeli military targeted the Al-Shuhada school in Nuseirat camp, killing 17 people and wounding dozens more, Mahmud Bassal, a spokesman for the agency, told AFP.

The toll was confirmed by Al-Awda hospital, which said the school had been hit by an air strike. “Thousands of displaced people were sheltering in the school, most of them children and women,” a statement issued by the Hamas government media office said.

The Israeli military said it had targeted Hamas fighters when it struck the school.

The Israeli air force “conducted a strike on Hamas terrorists who were operating inside a command and control centre in the area of Nuseirat, which was located inside the school, the military said in a statement.

“The command and control centre… was used by the terrorists to plan and execute terrorist attacks against IDF (Israeli army) troops and the State of Israel,” it said.