Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that 22 people were killed and at least 100 others wounded in a predawn attack on tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in Al-Mawasi, in the southern Gaza Strip.

Seven people were killed in a strike on a house in northern Gaza's Jabalia, Bassal said, while the Al-Awda hospital in the same area reported damage.

Deaths were also recorded in the cental area of Al-Zawayda and in Khan Yunis, in the south, according to Bassal.

The Israeli military announced on Saturday it was intensifying its operations across Gaza in a bid to defeat Hamas militants after more than 19 months of war.

The stepped-up campaign comes amid growing international concern over worsening humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian territory due to an Israeli aid blockade.