Israel says 'secured a central Hamas stronghold' in Gaza refugee camp air strike

Palestinian health officials said at least 50 Palestinians were killed when Israeli air strikes hit the densely populated refugee camp in north Gaza earlier on Tuesday.

Officials at Gaza's Indonesian Hospital said more than 50 Palestinians had been killed and 150 wounded when tons of aerial explosives struck residential dwellings in the heart of the Jabalia camp in urbanised north Gaza.

The Israel military has accused Hamas, which rules the narrow coastal territory, of using civilian buildings as cover for fighters, commanders and weaponry, accusations it denies.

A Hamas statement said there were 400 dead and injured in Jabalia, which lies on Gaza City's outskirts within the main northern ground zone of combat between dug-in Hamas militants and Israeli troops and tanks. Jabalia houses families of refugees from wars with Israel dating back to 1948.

Reuters could not independently verify the reported casualty figures.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed again on Tuesday for the protection of civilians caught in the conflict, stressing the need for proportional behaviour and precautions by all parties.

U.N. and other aid officials said civilians in the besieged Palestinian enclave were engulfed by a public health catastrophe, with hospitals struggling to treat snowballing casualties as electricity supplies peter out.