Israel escalates attacks on southern Gaza

Israel pressed its assault on Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Wednesday, sending tanks westwards while Jordan decried shelling that badly damaged its field hospital in the city.

The Jordanian army said it held Israel responsible for a "flagrant breach of international law" in damage to the facility. Israel's military denied striking or damaging the hospital, saying it opened fire after encountering a "terrorist cell" next to the hospital.

People in and around another hospital, Nasser, fled as tanks approached the district overnight following an Israeli army statement that it had come under fire from the area.

Palestinian health officials said seven people were killed by Israeli air strikes that damaged homes near the hospital, one of only a third of Gaza's hospitals still partially operational. 

Farther south from the hospital in nearby Rafah, Palestinian health official said 16 people were killed when an Israeli missile hit a house in the city just before midnight on Wednesday. Several other people were wounded, they said, expecting the number of fatalities to increase.

Explosions from shelling and air strikes sounded further west in Khan Younis as the Israeli tanks moved on. Lines of thick black smoke rose from bomb sites.

As night fell, residents reported heavy Israeli tank and aerial bombing in Khan Younis as well as the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza.

Fighting also raged in densely populated Jabalia in northern Gaza on Wednesday, a day after Israeli tanks stormed back into parts of the north they left last week.

Israel's military campaign has left Gaza's population facing crisis levels of hunger and at growing risk from disease as supplies run low, aid agencies say.