ISRAELI forces targeted a tent camp housing displaced people in southern Gaza on Wednesday, killing at least 21 people and wounding another 28.

The attack took place in the Muwasi area, a sprawling coastal camp housing hundreds of thousands of displaced people.

The director of the Nasser Hospital, Atif al-Hout, in the nearby city of Khan Younis reported at least 15 bodies arrived at the hospital but said that establishing a precise number of dead was difficult because many were dismembered, some without heads or badly burned.

The Israeli military claimed its aircraft struck senior Hamas fighters who were “involved in terrorist activities” in the area.

Strikes elsewhere in Gaza killed eight people, including four children, health officials said.

Meanwhile, dozens of Palestinian families in northern Gaza said on Wednesday that they were forcibly displaced when Israel’s military expelled them from schools they were using as makeshift shelters.

The fleeing civilians said that Israel was expanding its major offensive in the north, the most heavily destroyed and isolated part of the Gaza Strip, which Israeli forces have almost completely besieged since early October. 

Eyewitnesses have reported seeing dozens of displaced families on the road leaving Beit Lahia — some on foot while others used motorised rickshaws, bicycles or donkey carts to carry kids, older adults and their remaining belongings.

Sadeia al-Rahel said on Wednesday that she was staying in a school in the town of Beit Lahiya when Israel’s military dropped leaflets ordering everyone to evacuate.

“This morning a drone detonated four bombs at the school. There were people injured, human remains, we left with nothing,” she said. 

She said that her family has been eating grass, leaves and animal feed for two months due to the lack of food aid in the north, “but no-one cares.” 

Ms Rahel said her family didn’t even take blankets with them as they left.

Hafez Warshal stayed in Beit Lahia with his family for 13 months before evacuating the school where he was sheltering. He said he had no idea where he would go next.

“We’ll stay wherever we find a place,” he said.

Israel’s war against the Palestinians in Gaza has killed at least 44,500, mostly women and children.

The International Criminal Court is seeking to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant over accusations of using “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid into Gaza. 

Israel rejects the allegations and says it has been working hard to improve the entry of aid.