Palestinian health officials called on Wednesday for a humanitarian corridor to three hospitals in northern Gaza that have come close to collapse as Israeli troops have cut off the area during almost two weeks of heavy fighting against Hamas.

At least 20 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East school-turned-shelter in central Gaza, the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said. The school was being used to shelter displaced people in Nuseirat camp, health authorities said. It was bombed on Sunday.

At least 22 people have been killed and dozens wounded in an Israeli air strike on a UN-run school sheltering displaced families in northern Gaza, local medics and the Hamas-run Civil Defence agency say.

The explosions at the Al-Ahli hospital have sparked outrage in the wider region and cast a shadow over a visit to Israel by President Joe Biden.

Israel Defense Forces presented what it says is an intercepted call between two Hamas operatives discussing a rocket launch failure.