Gaza's civil defence agency said Wednesday that an overnight Israeli air strike in the northern part of the Palestinian territory killed at least 22 people, including women and children.

"At least 22 people were martyred in the massacre committed by the occupation military after it bombed a house belonging to the Abu al-Tarabish family near Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza," agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

Bassal said that an Israeli jet had fired three missiles at the house around midnight, adding the strike completely destroyed the three-storey structure.

More than 50 people were residing in the house, he said, with many still under the rubble.

"Rescuers were unable to evacuate the martyrs or the wounded until this morning," said Jaber Alian, 30, who witnessed the strike from a house near the hospital.

He told AFP there were several other bombings across the northern parts of the territory during the night.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to questions about the strike on the Tarabish home.

For several weeks, the Israeli military has been engaged in a sweeping operation in northern Gaza, which it says is aimed at preventing the regrouping of Hamas militants in the area.

In another strike in central Gaza on Wednesday morning, at least seven people were killed when an Israeli warplane struck the house of the Al-Bayoumi family in Nuseirat refugee camp, Bassal said.

The military, meanwhile, said two projectiles crossed from central Gaza into Israel on Wednesday, but were intercepted by the air force.

The war in Gaza broke out after Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7 last year, resulting in the deaths of 1,208 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

The count includes hostages who died or were killed while being held in Gaza after they were seized by Palestinian militants during the attack.

Militants abducted 251 hostages, 96 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel's retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed at least 44,786 people, a majority of them civilians, according to data from the Hamas-run health ministry that is considered reliable by the UN.

AFP

israeli warplane

Gaza rescuers say at least 22 killed in overnight Israel strike