“According to Israeli intelligence, approximately 20 Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants, including senior commanders, are operating from the compound that attacked the al-Tabain school and carrying out terrorist attacks,” IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said in a statement.
The spokesman said the casualty figures released by Hamas officials “do not match the information held by the IDF, the exact munitions used, or the accuracy of the attacks.”
The reported numbers for the attack, which occurred early Saturday morning, are higher than most similar strikes.
But targeting schools has become a regular feature of IDF operations in recent weeks, appearing to be part of an ongoing effort to destroy Hamas' military infrastructure.
Unofficial estimates suggest more than a dozen schools have been affected since early July, including four in four days.
The IDF has issued nearly identical statements each time, saying Hamas is hiding in the school and using it as a command center to plan and execute attacks, a charge Hamas denies.
In any case, these buildings are where many Gaza migrants have found refuge, and they are paying the highest price.
Many of the schools were run by the United Nations before the war, and the UN strongly condemned the strike.
It is unclear whether the incident will have any impact on a ceasefire deal, as efforts to reach a deal have been frustrated following the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran.
But Egypt, one of the mediators involved in efforts to reach such a ceasefire, said Israel's “deliberate killing” of unarmed Palestinians showed Israel lacked the political will to end the war.
