Hamas calls Israeli strike on school 'dangerous escalation'

'Massacre at Al-Tabieen School in the Daraj neighbourhood in central Gaza City is a horrific crime' says Hamas

Hamas denounced a "dangerous escalation" on Saturday after an Israeli strike on a school in Gaza killed between 90 and 100 people, according to the territory's civil defence agency.

"The massacre at Al-Tabieen School in the Daraj neighbourhood in central Gaza City is a horrific crime that constitutes a dangerous escalation," Hamas said in a statement.

More than 100 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded in an Israeli strike on a Gaza school sheltering displaced people, the official Palestinian news agency said on Saturday, while the Israeli army claimed to have targeted a Hamas command centre.

"The Israeli strikes targeted the displaced people while performing Fajr (dawn) prayers, a matter led to a rapid increase in the number of casualties," the Hamas-run Gaza government media office said in a statement.

In its statement, the Israeli army said its air forces "struck command and control centre served as a hideout for Hamas terrorists and commanders."

"The IAF precisely struck Hamas terrorists operating within a Hamas command and control center embedded in the Al-Taba’een school and located adjacent to a mosque in Daraj Tuffah, which serves as a shelter for the residents of Gaza City."