STORY: :: Graphic Warning
Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip killed at least 57 people on Tuesday, according to Palestinian health officials, as Israeli forces battled Hamas-led fighters.
Gaza health officials said those casualties included 23 killed at a United Nations school in Nuseirat.
The Israeli military said in a statement it attacked a group of "terrorists" who had operated from inside the school, after taking steps to mitigate the risk to civilians.
Gaza's health ministry said another 17 were dead after an airstrike in Khan Younis on a car near a tented area housing displaced families in the humanitarian-designated area of Al-Mawasi.
Tahrir Matir witnessed the airstrike.
"The car was moving and a young man was walking - the car was targeted, blood was splashing, and shrapnel hit our tents and martyrs were left on the street. We screamed, "we need an ambulance." We put them on carts and rickshaws and the ambulance came after a while."
Reuters footage showed residents carrying bodies of the dead and wounded on donkey carts and in rickshaws to hospitals.
The Israeli military said the strike targeted a senior militant of the Islamic Jihad group, an ally of Hamas.
In a statement, the military said, "We are looking into the reports stating that several civilians were injured as a result of the strike."
Israel has vowed to eradicate Hamas after its militants killed 1,200 people and took over 250 hostage in an attack on southern Israeli communities last Oct. 7, according to Israeli tallies.
At least 38,713 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's retaliatory offensive since then, Gaza health authorities said in their latest update on Tuesday.
The Israeli military said in a statement on Tuesday that half of the leadership of Hamas' military wing has been eliminated, with approximately 14,000 fighters killed or captured since start of Gaza campaign.
