Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians sought shelter in Gaza's schools. Another one just got bombed.

An Israeli air strike on a Gaza school compound housing displaced families has killed at least 80 people over the weekend, with the Israeli military saying it targeted Hamas militants there.

Video from the site showed body parts scattered on the ground and more bodies being carried away and covered in blankets on the floor. 

Empty food tins lay in a puddle of blood, with burnt mattresses and a child's doll among the debris.

The Hamas-run media office said in a statement that the strikes hit when people sheltering at the school were performing dawn prayers, leading to many casualties.

Palestinians inspect the destruction following the Israeli attack on the Al-Taba'een school. Image: Mahmoud ssa/Anadolu via Getty.

Palestinian Civil Defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal originally said there had been more than 93 fatalities - a figure Israel said was inflated. 

Dr Fadel Naeem, the director of al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City, told Associated Press that the facility had received 70 bodies of those killed in the strikes and the body parts of at least 10 others. 

About 6000 people had been sheltering at the compound. Israel says 20 Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants were operating at the site.

"The compound, and the mosque that was struck within it, served as an active Hamas and Islamic Jihad military facility," Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said on X.

"According to an initial review, the numbers published by the Hamas-run Government Information Office in Gaza, do not align with the information held by the IDF (Israel Defence Forces), the precise munitions used, and the accuracy of the strike," Shoshani said.

A military official said the part of the mosque struck was a men's area where no women or children were present.

"This was verified by intelligence and the strike was carried out using three small, precise munitions which cannot cause the scale of damage that the Palestinians are reporting," the official said.

But at a news conference in Gaza City, Bassal said the strike hit "the upper and ground floors of the school".

"The upper floor included women and children and the ground floor included people who were praying," he said. "They were directly hit."

Witness Abu Anas further verified this account, telling AP, "There were people praying, there were people washing and there were people upstairs sleeping, including children, women and old people". 

Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have sought shelter in Gaza's schools, most of which have stopped functioning since the start of the war 10 months ago.

According to the United Nations, 477 out of 564 schools in Gaza had been directly hit or damaged in the war as of July. 

Image: AAP.

Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia condemned the latest strike, which came as mediators pushed to resume ceasefire talks. 

Egypt said that the killing of Gaza civilians showed Israel had no intention to end the war. 

Qatar's foreign ministry described the strike as a "horrific massacre".

Australia has also condemned the attack, with Foreign Minister Penny Wong writing, "Innocent Palestinians cannot continue to pay the price of defeating Hamas. 

"Australia condemns the deaths of civilians from Israel’s strike on Al-Tabeen School."

Innocent Palestinians cannot continue to pay the price of defeating Hamas.

Australia condemns the deaths of civilians from Israel’s strike on Al-Tabeen School.

Israel must comply with international humanitarian law.

We again call for an immediate ceasefire.

— Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) August 11, 2024

Egypt, the US and Qatar have scheduled a new round of ceasefire negotiations for Thursday, as fears grow of a broader conflict involving Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a delegation would be sent to the August 15 talks.

Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed into southern Israel on October 7, killing 1200 people, mostly civilians, and capturing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Almost 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza, according to the Palestinian health ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians. Israel has lost 329 soldiers in Gaza.

- With AAP

Feature image: Palestinians mourn after an Israeli attack at the Et-Tabiin school where displaced people took shelter in the Ed-Deraj neighborhood in Gaza City. Photo by Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu via Getty.