Nearly 100 persons were killed in an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced families in Gaza, the besieged territory’s Palestinian militant group Hamas-led government said on Saturday, Reuters reported.

In a statement, officials said that the air strike hit at a time when those sheltering at the school were offering morning namaz, leading to several casualties.

At least 93 persons, including 11 children and six women, were killed, Reuters quoted Palestinian Civil Defence spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal as saying.

About 6,000 persons were sheltering at the compound, Bassal added.

The Gaza health ministry is yet to provide details of the casualties.

Israel’s military offensive against Gaza began on October 7 after Hamas invaded southern Israel, killing 1,200 persons and taking over 200 hostages.

Since October, Israel has been carrying out unprecedented air and ground strikes on Gaza. The attacks have killed more than 40,300 persons, including over 15,000 children.

Ismail al-Thawabta, the head of Gaza’s media office, claimed on Saturday that the Israeli Army had used three bombs weighing 907 kilograms each in the strike, Al Jazeera reported. He also claimed that Tel Aviv was aware of the presence of displaced persons inside the school.

The Israeli military alleged that about 20 Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants were operating from the site. It also claimed that the toll being reported by officials in Gaza was inflated.

“The compound, and the mosque that was struck within it, served as an active Hamas and Islamic Jihad military facility,” Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said on social media.

“According to an initial review, the numbers published by the Hamas-run Government Information Office in Gaza, do not align with the information held by the IDF [Israel Defense Forces], the precise munitions used, and the accuracy of the strike,” he said.

Israel has repeatedly attacked schools used as shelters by displaced families, alleging that such sites are used as command centres for Hamas to hide militants and manufacture weapons, according to Al Jazeera. It has not provided evidence to support the claim.

The strikes on Saturday came amid Qatar, Egypt and the United States calling on Tel Aviv and Hamas to resume talks on August 15 to reach a ceasefire.

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