"Eleven people, including a woman and girl, were killed when an Israeli air strike struck the Safad school in Gaza City sheltering displaced people," civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP, adding several people were also wounded.

The school had a Hamas police outpost, another Gaza health official said on condition of anonymity.

The Israeli military said its air force had struck a Hamas command centre in the Safad school.

"The IAF struck Hamas terrorists who were operating within a command and control centre embedded inside the area that previously served as the Safad school in Gaza City," the military said in a statement.

The war between Israel and Hamas erupted after Palestinian militants attacked Israel on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Since then, the Israeli military has been relentlessly bombing the Gaza Strip from the air, sea and ground, which has so far killed at least 40,738 people, according to the territory's health ministry.

According to the UN, the majority of the dead are women and children.