Thousands of Palestinians displaced by the war, now in its 12th month, have sought shelter in the Shuhada al-Zeitun school, said Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the civil defence agency in the Gaza Strip.

It was the latest school building housing displaced Gazans to be hit by an Israeli air strike, resulting in "five martyrs, including two children and a woman", Bassal told AFP, adding that several other people were wounded.

AFP could not independently verify the toll.

Bassal said the bodies "were pulled from under the rubble after Israeli warplanes hit the Shuhada al-Zeitun school with two missiles".

The Israeli military said it carried out a "precise strike" on the school compound which "was used by Hamas terrorists".

Earlier on Saturday, the civil defence agency reported an Israeli air strike on a house elsewhere in Gaza City had killed at least 11 people, with more strikes overnight in other parts of the Hamas-run territory leaving at least 10 dead.

The Israeli military has targeted several schools-turned-shelters in recent months, accusing Hamas of using them to hide militants among the civilian population -- a charge denied by the Palestinian militant group.

A similar strike on Wednesday on the Al-Jawni school in central Gaza's Nuseirat killed at least 18 people, according to the civil defence agency.

UN officials said six of the dead at Al-Jawni were staffers of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.

The vast majority of the Gaza Strip's 2.4 million people have been displaced at least once by the war, triggered by Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel, with many seeking safety in school buildings.

Israel's military offensive in Gaza since the war began on October 7 has killed at least 41,182 people, according to the territory's health ministry, which does not provide details on civilian and militant deaths.

The October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures, which also includes hostages killed in captivity.