The Hamas-run health ministry said another 100 people were wounded. The attack hit the Khadija girls’ school in Deir al Balah, one of the areas most populated with displaced families.
Israel’s military said it targeted a Hamas command centre which it claimed was embedded inside the school and the compound was being used to plan attacks against troops and as a weapons store.
A statement said it had taken “numerous steps” prior to the strike to minimise civilian harm including “appropriate munitions, aerial surveillance and additional intelligence”.
The Israel Defence Forces added: “This is a further example of the Hamas terrorist organisation’s systematic violation of international law and exploitation of civilian structures and population as human shields for its attacks against the state of Israel.”
The dead and wounded were taken to the nearby al Aqsa Hospital, others arrived there bloodied on foot. Classrooms were destroyed by the attack and people searched through rubble to find victims and gather remains. Civil defence workers said more than 4,000 people were sheltering in the school and it also contained a medical site