IDF airstrike hits Gaza school ‘being used as Hamas command centre’ – with at least 30 dead, say Palestinian officials

AN IDF airstrike has devastated a school in Gaza, leaving at least 30 Palestinians dead, say health officials.

The Israeli military say they blasted the building in Deir al Balah in central Gaza as it was being used as command centre for the Hamas terrorists.

Reuters

An Israeli strike has hit a school in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza[/caption]

Reuters

At least 30 people are suspected dead in the blast[/caption]

The area which was hit is believed to be one of the most populated places in Gaza with hundreds of displaced families being moved there after months of fighting.

Gaza health ministry and the Hamas-run government media office also say over 100 others have been wounded.

The Israeli military said in a statement it had targeted a “Hamas command and control center inside the Khadija school compound in central Gaza”.

The statement said the school was being used to launch attacks against troops and as a weapons cache and that it warned civilians before the strike.

At Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah, ambulances raced wounded Palestinians into the medical facility.

Some of the wounded also arrived on foot, with their clothes stained with blood.

In previous such strikes that have hit civilian infrastructure, Israel’s military has blamed the militant Islamist group Hamas for putting civilians in harm’s way, accusing it of operating within densely populated neighbourhoods, schools and hospitals as cover.

Hamas denies this.