The Hamas media office said at least 73 people had been killed in the strike. No official casualty figures were immediately available from the health ministry however Medway Abbas, a senior health ministry official, said the figures were accurate.
The Israeli military said it was looking into the incident but said the numbers issued by the Hamas media office were exaggerated.
Palestinian health officials said rescue operations were being hampered by the cut-off of telecommunication and internet services for a second day. Earlier in the day, the Gaza health ministry said Israeli military strikes killed 35 Palestinians across the enclave.
"This is a war of genocide and ethnic cleansing. The occupation has conducted a horrifying massacre in Beit Lahiya," the Hamas media office said.
Residents and medics said Israeli forces had tightened their siege on Jabalia, the largest of the enclave’s eight historic camps, which it encircled by also sending tanks to the nearby towns of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya and issuing evacuation orders to residents.
Israeli officials said evacuation orders were aimed at separating Hamas fighters from civilians and denied there was any systematic plan to clear civilians out of Jabalia or other northern areas.
Health officials said they refused orders by the Israeli army to evacuate the hospital or leave the patients, many in critical condition, unattended.
"Hospitals in northern Gaza suffer from stark shortages of medical supplies and manpower and are overwhelmed by the number of casualties," doctor Hussam Abu Safiya said.
Yesterday Israeli planes dropped leaflets over southern Gaza showing a picture of the dead Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar with the message "Hamas will no longer rule Gaza", echoing language used by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
• Netanyahu vowed that his country would "win this war" after an attack drone reportedly crashed near a home he owns in the Israeli coastal town of Caesarea yesterday, TCA has reported.
An Israeli government spokesman accused the Lebanese militant group Hizbollah of launching the drone and targeting the Israeli leader.
The home is one of Netanyahu’s private residences.
Neither Netanyahu nor his wife were at the residence at the time of the attack. — Reuters/TCA
