Israeli strikes on Ibn Rushd school and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Mosque in central Gaza have killed at least 26 Palestinians, officials said, as Israel intensified its bombardment of northern Gaza and southern Beirut in its widening war across the region.

The strike hit the mosque and school where displaced people were sheltering near the main hospital in the central town of Deir el-Balah.

Israel said it targeted a Hamas command and control centre embedded among civilians, without providing any evidence to back its claim.

The Israeli military, meanwhile, announced a new air and ground offensive in Jabalia in northern Gaza, home to a densely-populated refugee camp dating back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation. It circulated photos and video footage showing a column of tanks heading towards the area.

Israel also ordered new evacuations in northern Gaza, which largely emptied out in the early weeks of the war when Israel ordered its entire population to flee south. Up to 300,000 people are estimated to have remained there despite harsh conditions and heavy destruction.

Avichay Adraee, a spokesman for the Israeli military, said it expanded the so-called humanitarian zone in southern Gaza, urging people to head there. The zone includes sprawling tent camps where hundreds of thousands of people have already sought refuge. Israel has repeatedly bombed such “safe zones” in the past year.

Palestinian residents reported heavy Israeli strikes across northern Gaza. The Palestinian Civil Defence said several homes and buildings had been hit and they were not able to reach them because of the bombardment.

The latest strikes add to the mounting Palestinian death toll in Gaza, which is nearing 42,000, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.