An Israeli strike on a school where displaced people were sheltering in the central Gaza Strip killed at least 17 people on Thursday, mostly women and children, Palestinian medical officials said.

Another 42 people were wounded in the strike in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp, according to the Awda Hospital, which received the casualties. Among the dead were seven children as young as 11 months, as well as three women. There was no immediate comment from Israel which has carried out several strikes on schools-turned-shelters in recent months, saying it precisely targets Hamas militants hiding among civilians.