DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — An Israeli airstrike on Thursday killed at least 27 Palestinians sheltering at a school in northern Gaza and wounded 70 more, said Health Ministry spokesman Zaher al-Wahidi, as Israeli forces have expanded their strikes and evacuation orders across the war-torn territory in recent days.

At least 27 killed as Israeli strike hits a school in Gaza, say medical officials - The bodies of 14 children and five women were recovered from the school in the Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City, say

The offensive comes as Israel faces criticism after the United Nations said bodies of aid workers were found in a “mass grave."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had seized a corridor of land that would split one of Gaza’s largest cities from the rest of the enclave.

Gaza's health ministry reported at least 97 people killed in Israeli strikes in the past 24 hours, including at least 20 killed in an airstrike around dawn in Shejaia suburb of Gaza City. Rafah "is gone,