The attacks on Tuesday came as Hamas warned that the stepped-up Israeli offensive could jeopardise mediated ceasefire talks, a new round of which is set to begin in the capital of Qatar, Doha.

In the town of Abbasan, east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, an Israeli air attack on the al-Awdah school killed at least 30 people and wounded more than 50, most of them women and children, according to Palestinian medics.

Exclusive footage from the school, obtained by Al Jazeera, shows young Palestinians playing football in the building’s yard as dozens of people watch on. Then, a loud explosion is heard, sending people running for cover.

A Palestinian boy told Al Jazeera he lost several relatives in the attack. “We were sitting and a missile fell and destroyed everything,” he said, sobbing.

“I lost my uncle, my cousins and my relatives,” he added.

Elsewhere in Gaza, Israel also bombed the central Bureij camp, killing at least 17 people, 14 of whom were children. Israeli soldiers also raided a house in central Deir el-Balah, killing three more people.

Hamas described the attack on the al-Awda school an “extension of the war of extermination against our people by the Zionist terrorist government” and called on people in Arab and Muslim nations to escalate protests against the war.

Josep Borrell, the European Union’s top diplomat, also condemned the attack, saying in a post on X, “For how long are innocent civilians going to bear the brunt of this conflict?”

He added, “It is imperative to immediately reach a ceasefire to bring respite to hundreds of stranded civilians, free all the hostages, deliver the needed humanitarian aid.”

The attacks come as CIA director William Burns and Israel’s Mossad chief David Barnea prepare to travel to Qatar on Wednesday, after Burns held talks with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo, seeking to push for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The renewed efforts come after Hamas made concessions last week, including dropping a key demand that Israel commit upfront to an end to the war before signing a ceasefire agreement. Instead, Hamas said it would push for the move in negotiations planned during an initial six-week ceasefire.

But Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the group, stated on Monday that Israel’s escalating assault has threatened talks at a crucial time and could bring negotiations “back to square one”.

Haniyeh, who spoke with Qatari and Egyptian mediators, issued a statement warning “of the disastrous repercussions of what is happening in Gaza City, Rafah and other areas across the Gaza Strip”.

He stressed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “his army bear full responsibility for the collapse of this negotiation path”.

At least 38,243 people have been killed and 88,243 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza since October. The death toll in Israel from the Hamas-led attacks on October 7 is estimated at 1,200, with dozens of people still held captive in Gaza.

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director-general, stressed the severe impact these orders are having on the already limited medical services in the region.

“There’s really no safe corner in Gaza,” said Ghebreyesus in a statement.

“The latest reports on evacuation orders in Gaza City will further impede delivery of very limited life-saving care.”

The WHO has reported that key hospitals such as Al-Ahli and Patient Friendly hospitals are out of service.

Patients from these hospitals have been forced to either self-evacuate, were given early discharges, or referred to other hospitals.

Kamal Adwan and Indonesian hospitals, which are now responsible for these patients, are grappling with severe shortages of fuel, beds, and trauma medical supplies.

The Indonesian Hospital is currently operating at triple its capacity, struggling to cope with the influx of patients.

Al-Helou Hospital, located within the blocks affected by the evacuation order, continues to operate but only partially.

Meanwhile, As-Sahaba and Al-Shifa hospitals, which are near the evacuation zones, remain functional for now, though their status is precarious given the proximity to conflict areas.

Additionally, six medical points and two primary healthcare centers fall within the evacuation zones, further straining the healthcare infrastructure.

Ghebreyesus warned that these critical medical facilities could quickly become non-functional due to hostilities in their vicinity or obstructions to access.

The WHO has called for a cease-fire to ensure that medical aid can reach those in dire need and that the wounded can receive proper care.

WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic told a UN press briefing in Geneva that of 36 hospitals in Gaza, only 13 are partially functioning.

Jasarevic stressed that patients and medical staff evacuated three hospitals in one week in southern Gaza in fear of intensified military activities that could render the health facilities non-functional or inaccessible.

While the cumulative bed capacity at the six partially functional hospitals in southern Gaza, including three in Deir al Balah and three in Khan Younis, now stands at 1,334 beds, he said that there are a total of 11 field hospitals in the strip — three had to temporarily shut down, and four are partially functioning, due to the Rafah hostilities and reduced access.

Most of the field hospitals in Rafah are relocating to the central area, he added.

The spokesperson, citing the Palestinian Health Ministry, underlined that 34 people have died of malnutrition and dehydration.

In Kamal Adwan Hospital alone, Jasarevic said, 60 severe acute malnutrition cases were detected last week, and two patients were admitted to the stabilization center.

Since mid-October, 865,000 cases of upper respiratory infections, 485,000 cases of diarrhea, 96,417 cases of lice and scabies, 60,130 cases of skin rashes, 10,038 impetigo cases, and 9,274 cases of chickenpox have been reported in displaced people shelters, according to the spokesperson.

“No WHO trucks have passed last week into Gaza since Karem Shalom remains closed,” he added.

Israeli soldiers told the outlets of near-total absence of firing regulations, “with troops shooting as they please, setting homes ablaze, and leaving corpses on the streets” all with their commanders’s blessings.

“There was total freedom of action,” B., an anonymous soldier who served in Gaza, said, adding, “If there is [even] a feeling of threat, there is no need to explain — you just shoot.”

B. stated that when someone is approaching.

“it is permissible to shoot at their centre of mass [their body], not into the air. It’s permissible to shoot everyone, a young girl, an old woman.”

Even when dealing with Israeli hostages in the besieged enclave, soldiers “didn’t have a specific directive”, as the incident in which the army accidentally killed three hostages did not cause any significant changes to the open-fire regulations.

Soldiers even freely fired at civilians entering so-called “no-go zones”, and their corpses are often left to rot, only removed ahead of the arrival of humanitarian aid convoys so that “images of people in advanced stages of decay don’t come out”.

Flouting a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian group Hamas.

Nearly 38,200 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 88,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Nine months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.