text:  The Israeli military says the school had been used by Hamas as an operational facility and that, quote, numerous steps were taken in order to mitigate the risk of harming civilians. Israel issued a similar statement a few days earlier when it struck two other UN schools in Gaza City in the north, also full of displaced people. The UN says that nearly 200 of its structures in Gaza have been hit since the war began last October, and more than 500 displaced people have been killed as a result.