At least 24 killed in Israeli air strike on Gaza mosque, school

At least 24 people were killed and 93 others wounded when Israeli airstrikes hit a mosque and a school sheltering displaced people in the Gaza Strip early on Sunday, the Hamas-run Gaza government media office said.

Palestinian health officials said at least another 20 people had been killed since Saturday night in northern Gaza, after the army sent tanks into areas there for the first time in months, while urging residents to go to what it called safe zones in the south.

The Israeli military said it had conducted "precise strikes on Hamas" who were operating within command and control centres embedded in Ibn Rushd School and the Shuhada al-Aqsa Mosque in the area of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.

Hamas rejects Israeli accusations it uses civilian facilities such as schools, hospitals and mosques for military purposes.

The strikes on the mosque and the school came as the war between Israel and Hamas in the enclave approaches its first anniversary, and as Israel has been expanding its actions in Lebanon.

The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said Israel had struck 27 houses, schools and displacement shelters across Gaza in the past 48 hours.

The army on Saturday issued new evacuation orders in parts of Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, just north of Deir al-Balah, forcing hundreds of families to leave their houses. The military statement said its forces aimed to operate against Hamas who waged attacks from the territory.

Meanwhile, Israeli tanks pushed into the northern Gaza areas of Beit Lahiya and Jabalia overnight, and planes hit several houses, killing at least 20 people, according to medics.

The Israeli military said its forces had encircled the area Jabalia, the focus of its operations.

In one air strike, 10 people were killed in one house, and five others in another strike on a second home and residents described it as one of the worst nights in many months.

The Israeli military said its forces were operating in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza Strip's eight historic refugee camps, to fight Hamas, dismantle military infrastructure and prevent Hamas from regrouping.