Gaza civil defence says Israel strike on schools kills 30

GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories - Gaza's civil defence agency said an Israeli strike hit two schools in Gaza City on Sunday, killing at least 30 people, while the military reported it had struck Hamas command centres.

These bring to at least 11 the number of schools in Gaza to be struck since July 6, killing around 150 people, based on a tally of tolls previously given by officials in the Hamas-run territory.

"The number of martyrs in the massacre of the Hassan Salameh and Al-Nasr schools' bombing has risen to 30. Dozens were also wounded," civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

Bassal said most of the dead and wounded were women and children.

He said the schools were housing Palestinians displaced from their homes in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas militants.

Israel's military confirmed the strike targeting the two schools.

"The schools were used by Hamas' Al-Furqan Battalion as a hiding place for its terrorist operatives and as command centres," the military said in a statement.

On Saturday, a similar Israeli strike hit another school compound in Gaza City, killing at least 17 people, according to the civil defence agency.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas fighters attacked Israel on October 7. 

Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 39,583 people, according to the territory's health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, which does not give details of civilian and militant deaths.