Israeli strikes across Gaza killed at least 59 people, hospital officials said on Wednesday, as Israel prepares to ramp up its campaign against Hamas in a war now entering its 20th month.

At least 15 Palestinians, including a journalist, were killed Wednesday after Israeli airstrikes hit Gaza's Abu Hameesa School sheltering displaced families in northern Gaza, according to local health officials, as Israel ramped up its destruction of buildings in southern Rafah.

At least 54 more Palestinians were killed, and dozens injured in fresh Israeli strikes on Wednesday across the war-torn Gaza Strip, medics said. A medical source said 16 people were killed in Israeli shelling of a school-turned shelter in Al-Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza City.