Gaza, 9 July 2024 (dpa/MIA) - The Israeli army says it has attacked several Palestinian militants who were hiding inside a school in Gaza with airstrikes.

The army used precision ammunition in order to avoid civilian casualties while targeting the group of fighters hiding in the building in the Nuseirat area in central Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said late on Monday, without giving further details.

The army again accused both militant groups, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), of "systematically violating humanitarian law" by using "civilian facilities and the population as human shields."

It comes after the IDF recently said it had targeted Hamas fighters on the grounds of a former school run by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). According to Hamas, 16 people were killed in the airstrikes on the school compound.

According to the army, militants had used the school as their operational basis for attacks on the Israeli military, stressing that steps had been taken ahead of the strikes to reduce the risks for civilians.

It was not possible to independently verify the claims from either side.

MIA file photo