Israel-Gaza live updates: Hostages 'brutally murdered' just before recovery, IDF says

At least six people were killed on Sunday when Israel Defense Forces conducted an airstrike on a school in Gaza City, according to Gaza Civil Defense.

The IDF said in a statement that the strike was aimed at Hamas terrorists they allege were operating a command-and-control center inside the Safad school to plan and carry out terrorist attacks against the IDF and Israel.

"Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence," the IDF said in a statement.

The Gaza Civil Defense confirmed the Safad school was hit in the IDF strike, but said the school houses displaced people from the Al-Zeitoun area east of Gaza City.

-ABC News' Victoria Beaulé

Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke Sunday with the parents of U.S.-Israeli citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who Isreal Defense Forces found fatally shot Saturday along with five other hostages who were being held in Gaza tunnels by Hamas terrorists, according to a State Department spokesperson.

In his phone conversation Sunday with Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin, Blinken offered "deep condolences for the death of their son," said State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said.

-ABC News' Shannon Kingston

President Biden spoke with Hersh Goldberg-Polin's parents, Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin, this morning to "offer his condolences for the death of their son at the hands of Hamas," according to a White House official.

-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart

Forensic examinations on the bodies of six Israeli hostages recovered on Saturday determined they were all killed "in a number of short-range shots," the Israeli Health Ministry said on Sunday.

It was estimated that the hostages were killed sometime between Thursday and Friday, or 48 to 72 hours before the forensic exams were performed, according to the Ministry of Health.

"Early in the morning, the bodies of the abductees arrived at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine to determine the cause of death," the Ministry of Health said in a statement. "In an examination conducted at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, it was found that the six abductees were murdered by Hamas terrorists in a number of short-range shots."

-ABC News' Anna Burd