The head of the government’s media office in the Gaza Strip and an official from the Ministry of Health speak of 40 dead in Israeli attack on the Nuseirat school

DUBAI (Reuters) – The director of the Hamas-run government media office in the Gaza Strip, Ismail Al-Thawabta, and a Gaza Health Ministry official told Reuters on Thursday that 40 people were killed and 73 wounded in an Israeli attack on the Nuseirat school in the Gaza Strip.

The two officials added that 14 children and nine women were killed in the attack.

UNRWA communications director Juliette Touma had previously told Reuters that the number of people killed in the Israeli offensive on the Nuseirat school was between 35 and 45, adding that this number could not be confirmed at this time.

The Israeli military said it believed there were 20 to 30 fighters in the school run by the United Nations Palestine Refugee Agency.

(Reporting by Nidal Al Mughrabi; Writing by Tala Ramadan and Clauda Tanios; Editing by Michael Georgy and Alex Richardson)