Palestinians mourned their loved ones outside a Gaza City hospital on Friday after at least 27 people were killed in the latest Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip, according to hospital officials.

Six members from the Afifi family were killed in a strike which hit tents near the city's university, said staff at the Shifa Hospital which received the dead.

Rida Afifi asked where they could go when they were hit in what the Israeli military had said was a safe area.

Footage showed children from the family collecting what they could of their damaged belongings from the debris.

Men prayed over the wrapped bodies of the dead outside the Shifa facility before they were taken away for burial.

It comes as the Israeli military stepped up operations aimed at seizing control of famine-stricken Gaza City, which is home to some 1 million Palestinians and has been declared a combat zone.

Israel has begun mobilizing tens of thousands of reservists and is repeating displacement warnings as part of its plan to widen its offensive, which has sparked opposition domestically and condemnation abroad.

Parts of the city are already considered “red zones” where Palestinians have been ordered to evacuate ahead of expected heavy fighting.

That has left residents on edge, including many who returned after fleeing the city in the initial stages of the war, which has already displaced around 90% of the territory's population.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 64,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many were civilians or combatants but says women and children make up around half the dead.

Israel says it only targets militants, and the war will continue until all the hostages are returned and Hamas is disarmed.

Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.