DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (NEWSnet/AP) — Israel’s forces on Thursday bombarded cities, towns and refugee camps across Gaza, killing dozens of people in a widening air and ground offensive against Hamas.

The war has killed more than 20,000 Palestinians and driven 85% of the population of 2.3 million from their homes.

Much of northern Gaza is leveled and most of it is depopulated and isolated from the rest of the territory.

Israeli officials have brushed off international requests for a cease-fire, saying it would amount to a victory for Hamas.

An Israeli airstrike on a home in the northern town of Beit Lahiyeh buried at least 21 people, including women and children, according to a family member.

Bassel Kheir al-Din, a journalist with a local TV station, said the strike flattened his family house and severely damaged three neighboring homes. He said 12 members of his family were buried and presumed dead, and that nine neighbors were missing.

In central Gaza, Israel's warplanes and artillery pounded the Bureij and Nuseirat refugee camps, leveling buildings, residents said. Israel said this week it would expand its ground offensive into central Gaza. The Israeli military typically launches waves of airstrikes and shelling before troops and tanks move in.

A hospital in the nearby town of Deir al-Balah received the bodies of 25 people killed overnight, including five children and seven women, hospital records show. 

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