GAZA CITY: Israeli bombardments in the early hours of Wednesday killed 32 Palestinians in Gaza, including 20 at a UN school, medics said, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas entered its 23rd day.

A shelling shortly after 5:30 am (0230 GMT) killed 20 people at a UN school being used as a shelter for those displaced by the war, medics said, without giving immediate details.

A UN official confirmed the shelling, saying it hit a bathroom and two classrooms on the site in Jabalia refugee camp, but gave a lower initial toll of between 13 and 15 dead.

A shelling earlier in the northern Gaza Strip killed an 11-year-old handicapped girl, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said, with a subsequent shelling in the centre of the small coastal territory killing a 16-year-old girl.

A strike shortly afterwards in the southern city of Khan Yunis killed nine members of a single family, Qudra said, including one child who could not immediately be identified.

A middle-aged man was killed early in the morning in the southern city of Rafah.

The deaths brought the total Palestinian toll from an Israeli operation to stamp out militant rocket fire to at least 1,262, according to Qudra's figures.

On the Israeli side, militant fire, including cross-border rocket fire, has killed 53 Israeli soldiers in addition to three civilians inside Israel.