ANKARA

At least 31 Palestinians, including children, were killed and many others injured on Saturday in an Israeli attack targeting a field hospital in a school housing displaced people in the central Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources said.

“The death toll from Israel’s attack on a field hospital inside a school housing displaced people in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza has risen to 31,” the Gaza government media office spokesman, Ismail Al-Thawabta, told Anadolu.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army stated that its fighter jets attacked the Khadija school in the central Gaza Strip, claiming to target Hamas members.

There was no immediate comment from the Palestinian group Hamas on the Israeli claims.

Earlier, the Gaza government media office said that “the Israeli occupation army committed a new massacre a short while ago by bombing a field hospital set up inside Khadija School in Deir al-Balah in the Central Governorate.”

“The occupation bombed the hospital with three missiles from fighter jets, which led to the killing of 18 people and dozens of injuries,” it added.

Medical sources told Anadolu that the Israeli army bombed the school in an area that was classified as a “humanitarian safe zone” in Deir al-Balah.

Israel has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Hamas. The actions have triggered a humanitarian disaster and an ongoing trial over alleged genocide at the International Court of Justice.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi