Israeli strike on Gaza school kills 25

At least 25 people were killed Tuesday in a strike that hit a southern Gaza school sheltering Palestinians displaced by war, the health ministry said.

Witnesses said dozens of injured people, as well as bodies recovered from under the rubble of Ma'an school in Khan Yunis had been taken to the city's Nasser hospital.

Khan Yunis, Gaza's second-largest city, has been targeted for several days by intense bombing by the Israeli army, which has now also sent ground troops to the area

Many Palestinians have found refuge in schools or hospitals since the start of the Israeli offensive in October, believing they were relatively safe from attacks.

The UN humanitarian office OCHA says around 1.8 million people -- or 80 percent of the population of the narrow Palestinian territory -- have had to leave their homes during the war triggered by the unprecedented Hamas attacks, which according to Israeli authorities killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

The Israeli military campaign since October 7 has left more than 16,200 dead in Gaza, mostly women and children. Numerous schools and hospitals or their direct surroundings have been struck in the Gaza Strip since the war began.

OCHA has said the area designated on Sunday for "immediate evacuation" represented 20 percent of Khan Yunis and is home to around 117,000 people, half of whom already displaced.

As well as intense aerial bombardments, Israel launched a ground operation on October 27, initially in northern Gaza, which pushed a large part of the inhabitants towards the south.