Tel Aviv/Gaza, 6 June 2024 (dpa/MIA) - The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday said it struck a compound of Palestinian militant group Hamas "embedded inside an UNRWA school" in the the centre of the Gaza Strip.

The IDF said that Israeli Air Force aircraft "conducted a precise strike" on the compound in the area of the Nuseirat refugee camp.

According to Palestinian media reports, 27 people were killed in the aerial attack.

"Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists who belonged to the Nukhba Forces and took part in the murderous attack on communities in southern Israel on October 7th were operating in the compound," the IDF said on Telegram. Nukhba is a special unit within the military wing of Hamas.

"The terrorists directed terror from the area of the school while exploiting it and using it as a shelter," the IDF continued, saying that "several terrorists" on the verge of carrying out attacks "were eliminated in the strike."

The IDF said that "a number of steps were taken to reduce the risk of harming uninvolved civilians" before the strike.

It was not possible to independently verify the claims.

On Tuesday the army had announced it had used drones to strike a school belonging to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in nearby al-Bureij overnight, saying Hamas militants had planned numerous attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers from there.

The Israeli armed forces repeatedly accuse the Islamist Hamas of operating from civilian facilities and using civilians in the Gaza Strip as human shields. Hamas denies this.

The war in Gaza was triggered by the unprecedented massacre carried out by militants from Hamas and other extremist Palestinian organizations in Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip on October 7.

The militants killed more than 1,200 people and abducted more than 250 hostages to the Gaza Strip.

Israel responded with massive airstrikes and a ground offensive. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, 36,550 people have been killed so far and a further 82,959 have been injured.

These figures, which do not differentiate between fighters and civilians, cannot be independently verified at present.

Photo: MIA archive