Israeli strikes kill 17 Palestinians in Gaza

Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least 17 Palestinians, eight of them at a school sheltering displaced families in Gaza City, medics said, as the Israeli military ordered the evacuation of a hospital in the north.

Palestinian medics said eight people, including children, were killed in the Musa Bin Nusayr School that sheltered displaced families in Gaza City.

The Israeli military said in a statement the strike targeted Hamas fighters operating from a command centre embedded inside the school. It said Hamas used the place to plan and execute attacks against Israeli forces.

Also in Gaza City, medics said four Palestinians were killed when an airstrike hit a car.

At least five other Palestinians were killed in two separate airstrikes in Rafah and Khan Younis south of the enclave.

In the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya, where the army has operated since October, Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, said the army ordered staff to evacuate the hospital and move patients and injured people toward another hospital in the area.

Abu Safiya said the mission was "next to impossible" because staff did not have ambulances to move the patients.

The Israeli army has operated in the two towns of north Gaza, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, as well as the nearby Jabalia camp for nearly three months.

Palestinians have accused Israel of carrying out acts of "ethnic cleansing" to depopulate those areas to create a buffer zone.

Israel denies this and says the campaign in the area aimed to fight Hamas and prevent them from regrouping. It said its forces have killed hundreds of militants and dismantled military infrastructure since that operation began.

Mediators have yet to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Sources close to the discussions told Reuters on Thursday that Qatar and Egypt had been able to resolve some differences between the warring parties but sticking points remained.