A Hamas health official said more than 80 people were killed Saturday in twin strikes on a northern Gaza refugee camp, including a UN school used as a shelter for people displaced by the Israel-Hamas war.
Social media videos -- which AFP was unable to immediately verify -- showed bodies covered in blood and dust on the floor of a building, where mattresses had been wedged under school tables in Jabalia, the Palestinian territory's biggest refugee camp.
The Israeli army's relentless air and ground campaign has since killed 12,000 people, including 5,000 children, according to the Hamas government which has ruled Gaza since 2007.
"At least 50 people" were killed in an Israeli strike at dawn on the UN-run Al-Fakhura school in the camp, which had been converted into a shelter for displaced Palestinians, an official at Gaza's Hamas-controlled health ministry told AFP.
According to UN figures, some 1.6 million people have been displaced inside Gaza by six weeks of fighting.
A separate strike Saturday on another building in Jabalia camp killed 32 people from the same family, 19 of them children, the official said. The ministry released a list of 32 members of the Abu Habal family it said had died.
Contacted by AFP, the Israeli army did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the two strikes.
Israel has told Palestinians to move from north Gaza for their safety, but deadly air strikes continued to hit central and southern areas of the narrow coastal territory.
On Saturday hundreds of people fled on foot after the director of Gaza's main hospital said the Israeli army ordered evacuation of the facility where some 2,000 people were trapped.
Columns of sick and injured -- some of them amputees -- were seen making their way out of Al-Shifa hospital towards the seafront without ambulances along with displaced people, doctors and nurses, as loud explosions were heard around the facility.
On the way, an AFP journalist saw at least 15 bodies, some in advanced stages of decomposition, along a road lined by badly damaged shops and overturned vehicles, as Israeli drones buzzed overhead.
The Hamas-run health ministry said 120 wounded, along with an unspecified number of premature babies, were still at Al-Shifa hospital that has become the focus of the recent fighting.
Israel has been pressing military operations inside the hospital, searching for the Hamas operations centre it says lies under the sprawling complex - a charge Hamas denies.
In Gaza City, Israeli troops had called over loudspeakers to evacuate Al-Shifa "in the next hour", an AFP journalist at the hospital reported.
They also called the hospital's director, Mohammed Abu Salmiya, telling him to ensure "the evacuation of patients, wounded, the displaced and medical staff, and that they should move on foot towards the seafront", he said.
But Israel's army denied ordering the evacuation, saying instead it had "acceded to the request of the director" to allow more civilians to leave.
According to Ahmed El Mokhallalati, a doctor at the hospital, "most of the medical staff and patients had left" but he was staying at Al-Shifa along with five other doctors.
Despite the evacuation order, "many patients cannot leave the hospital as they are in the ICU beds or the baby incubators," Mokhallalati said on X, formerly Twitter.
The United Nations estimated 2,300 patients, staff and displaced Palestinians were sheltering at Al-Shifa before Israeli troops entered it on Wednesday.
Israel has imposed a siege on Gaza, allowing just a trickle of aid in from Egypt but barring most shipments of fuel over concerns Hamas could divert supplies for military purposes.
A first consignment of fuel entered Gaza after Israel's war cabinet bowed to pressure from its ally the United States and agreed to let in two diesel tankers a day.
A two-day blackout caused by fuel shortages ended after a first delivery arrived from Egypt late Friday, but UN officials continued to plead for a ceasefire, warning no part of Gaza is safe.
A strike on a residential building in southern Gaza killed 26 people, the director of the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis said.
"I was asleep and we were surprised by the strike. At least 20 bombs were dropped," Imed al-Mubasher, 45, told AFP.
His wife Sabrin Mussa said she "saw human remains everywhere" and screamed for help.
The UN said Israel had agreed to allow in 60,000 litres of fuel daily from Egypt starting Saturday, but warned it was little more than a third of what is needed to keep hospitals, water and sanitation facilities running.
Thomas White of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said Israel had "only permitted 50 percent of the daily fuel requirement for lifesaving humanitarian aid".
US President Joe Biden's chief adviser for the Middle East said more fuel deliveries and a potential "significant pause" in the fighting both depend of the release of hostages.
"The surge in humanitarian relief, the surge in fuel, the pause... will come when hostages are released," Brett McGurk told a security conference in Bahrain.
Israel has come under scrutiny for targeting hospitals in north Gaza, but says the facilities are being used by Hamas -- a claim rejected by the group and medical staff.
More than half of Gaza's hospitals are no longer functional due to combat, damage or shortages, and people are waiting four to six hours for half the normal portion of bread.
The military says it has found rifles, ammunition, explosives and the entrance to a tunnel shaft at the Al-Shifa hospital complex, claims that cannot be independently verified.
Israel has not recovered hostages at the hospital but said it found not far away the bodies of two kidnapped women including a soldier.
Waving Israeli flags and placards depicting the hostages, thousands of people approached Jerusalem Saturday on the fifth and final day of a march calling for their release.
![Palestinian children react after an Israeli strike on a house in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday. REUTERS Palestinian children react after an Israeli strike on a house in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday. REUTERS](https://cdn4.premiumread.com/?url=https://gulf-times.com/gulftimes/uploads/images/2023/11/18/103266.jpg&w=800&q=100&f=webp)
Palestinian children react after an Israeli strike on a house in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday. REUTERS
![Palestinians flee north Gaza and move southward, as Israeli tanks roll deeper into the enclave, in the central Gaza Strip, on Saturday. REUTERS Palestinians flee north Gaza and move southward, as Israeli tanks roll deeper into the enclave, in the central Gaza Strip, on Saturday. REUTERS](https://cdn4.premiumread.com/?url=https://gulf-times.com/gulftimes/uploads/images/2023/11/18/103264.jpg&w=800&q=100&f=webp)
Palestinians flee north Gaza and move southward, as Israeli tanks roll deeper into the enclave, in the central Gaza Strip, on Saturday. REUTERS
![Palestinians fleeing north Gaza move southward, as Israeli tanks roll deeper into the enclave in the central Gaza Strip, on Saturday. REUTERS Palestinians fleeing north Gaza move southward, as Israeli tanks roll deeper into the enclave in the central Gaza Strip, on Saturday. REUTERS](https://cdn4.premiumread.com/?url=https://gulf-times.com/gulftimes/uploads/images/2023/11/18/103272.jpg&w=800&q=100&f=webp)
Palestinians fleeing north Gaza move southward, as Israeli tanks roll deeper into the enclave in the central Gaza Strip, on Saturday. REUTERS
![A Palestinian child looks out the window of a vehicle while fleeing north Gaza and moving southward, as Israeli tanks roll deeper into the enclave, on Saturday. REUTERS A Palestinian child looks out the window of a vehicle while fleeing north Gaza and moving southward, as Israeli tanks roll deeper into the enclave, on Saturday. REUTERS](https://cdn4.premiumread.com/?url=https://gulf-times.com/gulftimes/uploads/images/2023/11/18/103274.jpg&w=800&q=100&f=webp)
A Palestinian child looks out the window of a vehicle while fleeing north Gaza and moving southward, as Israeli tanks roll deeper into the enclave, on Saturday. REUTERS
![Palestinians fleeing north Gaza move southward, as Israeli tanks roll deeper into the enclave in the central Gaza Strip, on Saturday. REUTERS Palestinians fleeing north Gaza move southward, as Israeli tanks roll deeper into the enclave in the central Gaza Strip, on Saturday. REUTERS](https://cdn4.premiumread.com/?url=https://gulf-times.com/gulftimes/uploads/images/2023/11/18/103269.jpg&w=800&q=100&f=webp)
Palestinians fleeing north Gaza move southward, as Israeli tanks roll deeper into the enclave in the central Gaza Strip, on Saturday. REUTERS
![An injured woman is transported to an ambulance following an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday. AFP An injured woman is transported to an ambulance following an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday. AFP](https://cdn4.premiumread.com/?url=https://gulf-times.com/gulftimes/uploads/images/2023/11/18/103267.jpg&w=800&q=100&f=webp)
An injured woman is transported to an ambulance following an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday. AFP
![Palestinians search for casualties at the site of an Israeli strike, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday. REUTERS Palestinians search for casualties at the site of an Israeli strike, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday. REUTERS](https://cdn4.premiumread.com/?url=https://gulf-times.com/gulftimes/uploads/images/2023/11/18/103263.jpg&w=800&q=100&f=webp)
Palestinians search for casualties at the site of an Israeli strike, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday. REUTERS
![Palestinians fleeing north Gaza ride a car as they move southward in the central Gaza Strip, on Saturday. REUTERS Palestinians fleeing north Gaza ride a car as they move southward in the central Gaza Strip, on Saturday. REUTERS](https://cdn4.premiumread.com/?url=https://gulf-times.com/gulftimes/uploads/images/2023/11/18/103270.jpg&w=800&q=100&f=webp)
Palestinians fleeing north Gaza ride a car as they move southward in the central Gaza Strip, on Saturday. REUTERS
![Palestinians fleeing north Gaza move southward, as Israeli tanks roll deeper into the enclave in the central Gaza Strip, on Saturday. REUTERS Palestinians fleeing north Gaza move southward, as Israeli tanks roll deeper into the enclave in the central Gaza Strip, on Saturday. REUTERS](https://cdn4.premiumread.com/?url=https://gulf-times.com/gulftimes/uploads/images/2023/11/18/103260.jpg&w=800&q=100&f=webp)
Palestinians fleeing north Gaza move southward, as Israeli tanks roll deeper into the enclave in the central Gaza Strip, on Saturday. REUTERS
![Palestinian children wounded in an Israeli strike are assisted at Nasser hospita in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip , on Saturday. REUTERS Palestinian children wounded in an Israeli strike are assisted at Nasser hospita in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip , on Saturday. REUTERS](https://cdn4.premiumread.com/?url=https://gulf-times.com/gulftimes/uploads/images/2023/11/18/103273.jpg&w=800&q=100&f=webp)
Palestinian children wounded in an Israeli strike are assisted at Nasser hospita in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip , on Saturday. REUTERS
![Palestinians sit at the back of a truck as they flee north Gaza and move southward, as Israeli tanks roll deeper into the enclave, in the central Gaza Strip, on Saturday. REUTERS Palestinians sit at the back of a truck as they flee north Gaza and move southward, as Israeli tanks roll deeper into the enclave, in the central Gaza Strip, on Saturday. REUTERS](https://cdn4.premiumread.com/?url=https://gulf-times.com/gulftimes/uploads/images/2023/11/18/103254.jpg&w=800&q=100&f=webp)
Palestinians sit at the back of a truck as they flee north Gaza and move southward, as Israeli tanks roll deeper into the enclave, in the central Gaza Strip, on Saturday. REUTERS
![Palestinians collect books from the rubble of a cultural centre following an Israeli strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday. AFP Palestinians collect books from the rubble of a cultural centre following an Israeli strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday. AFP](https://cdn4.premiumread.com/?url=https://gulf-times.com/gulftimes/uploads/images/2023/11/18/103268.jpg&w=800&q=100&f=webp)
Palestinians collect books from the rubble of a cultural centre following an Israeli strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday. AFP
![Palestinians collect books from the rubble of a cultural centre following an Israeli strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday. AFP Palestinians collect books from the rubble of a cultural centre following an Israeli strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday. AFP](https://cdn4.premiumread.com/?url=https://gulf-times.com/gulftimes/uploads/images/2023/11/18/103261.jpg&w=800&q=100&f=webp)
Palestinians collect books from the rubble of a cultural centre following an Israeli strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday. AFP
![A Palestinian man mourns over the bodies of relatives, killed in Israeli bombardment, in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip, on Saturday. AFP A Palestinian man mourns over the bodies of relatives, killed in Israeli bombardment, in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip, on Saturday. AFP](https://cdn4.premiumread.com/?url=https://gulf-times.com/gulftimes/uploads/images/2023/11/18/103271.jpg&w=800&q=100&f=webp)
A Palestinian man mourns over the bodies of relatives, killed in Israeli bombardment, in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip, on Saturday. AFP
![Volunteers transport a wounded Palestinian child off the plane upon their arrival in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, after being evacuated from Gaza as part of a humanitarian mission organised by the United Arab Emirates. AFP Volunteers transport a wounded Palestinian child off the plane upon their arrival in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, after being evacuated from Gaza as part of a humanitarian mission organised by the United Arab Emirates. AFP](https://cdn4.premiumread.com/?url=https://gulf-times.com/gulftimes/uploads/images/2023/11/18/103259.jpg&w=800&q=100&f=webp)
Volunteers transport a wounded Palestinian child off the plane upon their arrival in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, after being evacuated from Gaza as part of a humanitarian mission organised by the United Arab Emirates. AFP
![A Palestinian girl and her brother sit amidst the debris of a house following an Israeli strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday. AFP A Palestinian girl and her brother sit amidst the debris of a house following an Israeli strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday. AFP](https://cdn4.premiumread.com/?url=https://gulf-times.com/gulftimes/uploads/images/2023/11/18/103255.jpg&w=800&q=100&f=webp)
A Palestinian girl and her brother sit amidst the debris of a house following an Israeli strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday. AFP
![A Palestinian man inspects the debris of a house following an Israeli strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday. AFP A Palestinian man inspects the debris of a house following an Israeli strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday. AFP](https://cdn4.premiumread.com/?url=https://gulf-times.com/gulftimes/uploads/images/2023/11/18/103262.jpg&w=800&q=100&f=webp)
A Palestinian man inspects the debris of a house following an Israeli strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday. AFP
![Palestinians walk down a road as they flee Gaza City and other parts of northern Gaza towards the southern areas, on Saturday. AFP Palestinians walk down a road as they flee Gaza City and other parts of northern Gaza towards the southern areas, on Saturday. AFP](https://cdn4.premiumread.com/?url=https://gulf-times.com/gulftimes/uploads/images/2023/11/18/103265.jpg&w=800&q=100&f=webp)
Palestinians walk down a road as they flee Gaza City and other parts of northern Gaza towards the southern areas, on Saturday. AFP
![Palestinians walk down a debris-strewn road as they flee Gaza City and other parts of northern Gaza towards the southern areas of the enclave, on Saturday. AFP Palestinians walk down a debris-strewn road as they flee Gaza City and other parts of northern Gaza towards the southern areas of the enclave, on Saturday. AFP](https://cdn4.premiumread.com/?url=https://gulf-times.com/gulftimes/uploads/images/2023/11/18/103256.jpg&w=800&q=100&f=webp)
Palestinians walk down a debris-strewn road as they flee Gaza City and other parts of northern Gaza towards the southern areas of the enclave, on Saturday. AFP