DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — An Israeli strike on a school where displaced people were sheltering in the central Gaza Strip killed at least 17 people on Thursday, nearly all women and children, Palestinian medical officials said.

The strike came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel had accomplished its objective of “effectively dismantling” Hamas, and that negotiations over a cease-fire and the release of dozens of Israeli hostages would resume in the coming days.

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 13 children under the age of 18 and three women, according to the hospital's records.

The Israeli military said it targeted Hamas militants inside the school, without providing evidence. Israel has carried out several strikes on schools-turned-shelters in recent months, saying it precisely targets militants hiding out among civilians. The strikes often kill women and children.

Blinken, speaking to reporters in Qatar, which has served as a key mediator between Israel and Hamas, said negotiators would reconvene “in the coming days.”

“What we really have to determine is whether Hamas is prepared to engage," he said on his 11th visit to the region since the start of the war,

The United States hopes to renew the negotiations after Israeli forces killed top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza last week, but neither side has shown any sign of moderating its demands from months of negotiations that sputtered to a halt over the summer.

U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer said in an interview with News Channel Nebraska that the ongoing push for lasting peace in the region can only start with Israel.

"It's up to Israel to do this," Fischer said during a visit to Norfolk on Wednesday. "It's not up to the United States to push this on Israel. They have made it very plain that they need to wipe out the terrorists, who are our enemies as well, so that there can be peace in the region."

Blinken also announced an additional $135 million in U.S. aid to the Palestinians, while again urging Israel to allow more assistance to enter the territory.

Health workers in besieged northern Gaza meanwhile warned of a catastrophic situation there, where Israel has been waging an air and ground offensive for more than two weeks.

Eventually Gaza will need to be rebuilt, which Sen. Fischer told NCN needs to be led by U.S.-friendly nations in the Middle East.

"I think that our role should be to encourage our partners in the area, including Saudi Arabia who is a partner of the United States in that area, to step forward, and to have the Arab nations become more responsible in their connections to the Palestinians and be able to offer help as well," Fischer told NCN. "It doesn't always have to come from the United States."