At least 22 dead after Israel strikes Gaza City school, reports say

At least 22 people were killed in an Israeli attack on a former school building in Gaza City, Palestinian authorities said on Saturday.

At least 30 people were injured, including women and children, the health authority in Gaza said. Displaced people are said to have been sheltering inside the building.

The Israeli army said that it had targeted a Hamas command centre allegedly embedded inside the building.

Israeli forces had taken extensive measures to mitigate the risks for civilians ahead of the attack, it said. The Hamas fighters targeted were responsible for targeting attacks on Israel, it said.

According to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Civil Defence, volunteers are currently trying to free victims from under the building's rubble. The death toll could therefore rise further, it said.

The Palestinian news agency Wafa had earlier reported of another Israeli attack on a former school building in the same neighbourhood, saying dozens more were injured there.

The Israeli army said upon request that it was not aware of a second such strike in the area.

It was not possible to independently verify the claims from either side.

Fighting also continues in the south of Gaza, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

"Over the past day, the troops located weaponry, eliminated armed terrorists and dismantled a large amount of terror infrastructure in the area," it said.

The Israeli Air Force meanwhile has attacked 20 targets across the Gaza Strip, the army said. In the southern city of Rafah, Israeli drones killed gunmen who robbed a truck carrying humanitarian aid and then fled.

According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, five of its employees were killed in an Israeli attack on a warehouse for medical equipment in the south of the coastal area. When asked, Israel's army said it would look into the reports.

At least 41,391 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since the war triggered by the October 7 attacks began, according to local health authorities in Gaza.

That day saw Palestinian militants, led by Hamas, launch an extremist group rampage through communities in southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 more back to Gaza.

Negotiations for a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel and the return of the remaining hostages, mediated by the US, Qatar and Egypt, have been at an impasse for months.