Palestinian mourners gathered on Monday (May 26) at Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital in Gaza City to bid farewell to relatives and loved ones killed in an Israeli airstrike.

The strike hit a school sheltering displaced people in the Daraj neighbourhood of Gaza City, killing at least 20 and injuring dozens, according to local authorities.

Medics said the dozens of casualties included women and children.

Some of the bodies were badly burned according to images circulating on social media, which Reuters could not immediately verify.

The Israeli military said on Monday that Israeli forces struck a Hamas control center overnight on Sunday (May 25) in Gaza, targeting a facility that was used to "plan and gather intelligence in order to execute terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops."

Israel stepped up its military operations in the enclave in early May, saying it is seeking to eliminate Hamas' military and governing capabilities and bring back the remaining hostages who were seized in October 2023.

The Israeli campaign - triggered after Hamas Islamist militants attacked Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies - has devastated Gaza and pushed nearly all of its two million residents from their homes.

The offensive has killed more than 53,000 people, many of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

1. VARIOUS OF BODIES IN BODY BAGS PLACED ON THE GROUND AT AL-AHLI ARAB BAPTIST HOSPITAL / MOURNERS SURROUNDING BODIES

2. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN WHO LOST HER RELATIVES IN ISRAELI STRIKE ON GAZA CITY SCHOOL SHELTERING DISPLACED PEOPLE, OLFAT HAMDAN, SAYING:

“We were sleeping peacefully. All of us are women and children - there wasn’t a single man inside the classroom. This is my sister, and this is my sister's son. My sister’s husband was martyred in 2014, and she raised her orphans. God granted her this son with four daughters. We woke up from our sleep, they woke up - and found the whole place in flames. He started screaming, ‘Mom, get me out, get me out.’ She couldn’t get him out. He was with his two little sisters, ‘Mom, rescue me, rescue me,’ but she couldn’t. She pulled out her two injured daughters, they are there, but she couldn’t save her son. May he rest in peace.”

3. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE SITTING NEXT TO BODIES ON THE FLOOR

4. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN WHO LOST HER RELATIVES IN ISRAELI STRIKE ON SCHOOL SHELTERING DISPLACED PEOPLE, OLFAT HAMDAN, SAYING:

“This isn’t normal. What kind of missiles are they dropping? What are they doing? I don’t understand. All of them were children - the three children (referring to her other relatives) were burned, along with their mother, and here my sister’s son has been martyred, may he rest in peace. What did they do? They were sleeping peacefully. They woke up and found themselves in hell, they woke up to find it doomsday."

5. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE SITTING NEXT TO BODIES, EMBRACING EACH OTHER

6. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE GATHERING AND WALKING BY THE HOSPITAL