Israeli tank shells struck a school run by the United Nations in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 15 people.

The attack happened about 5:30 a.m. (0230 GMT) Wednesday at the Jebaliya refugee camp in northern Gazar, Gaza health official Ashraf al-Kidra said.

VOA’s Scott Bobb visited the site and described it as a scene of “utter chaos.”

“The one classroom that was hit, and where most of the people died, is utter devastation with the wall caved in and people are milling about kind of in shock,” Bobb said.

“Some are saying that these are people that had moved out of their homes and came here because of the threat of strikes, and now they’re saying, ‘We might as well go home, because if we’re not safe in a U.N. school, then we might as well go home to die,’ ” he added.

The school is one of 85 sites where the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said more than 200,000 people are now seeking shelter.

Heavy bombardment

Overnight into Wednesday morning, Israel continued to bombard Gaza City with dozens of airstrikes and heavy tank shelling as the conflict between the Jewish state and Hamas entered its 23rd day.

At least 32 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were killed early Wednesday as the Jewish state said it targeted Islamist militants at dozens of sites across the coastal enclave, health ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qidra said. Among the dead were a medic and an infant.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said she was checking for details.

Eight people, including five members of the same family in Jebalya, were killed in other strikes, Gaza officials said.

UN school hit

A U.N. official confirmed the shelling of the school, saying it hit a bathroom and two classrooms on the site in Jabalia refugee camp.

The army has not provided explanations when asked about specific strikes in which many members of a single family were killed.

Despite devastating blows that sent the overall Palestinian death toll soaring past 1,200, the militants will not cease fire until their demands are met, according to Hamas’ shadowy military leader Mohammed Deif.

Israel’s Channel Two TV said progress was being made to achieve a deal in Cairo, where a Palestinian delegation was expected to arrive for discussions.

Hospital officials put the total number of Palestinians killed in the conflict to at least 1,224, most of them civilians. On the Israeli side, 53 soldiers and three civilians have been killed since the start of the offensive on July 8.

Israel launched its offensive in response to rocket salvoes fired by Gaza’s dominant Hamas Islamists and their allies.

Cease-fire negotiations

The West Bank-headquartered Palestine Liberation Organization, which has been at odds with Hamas for years, said it had garnered the Islamist movement’s support for a 24-hour truce, but did not say when that was due to start.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas “was in touch with (Hamas chief Khaled) Meshaal Tuesday and Wednesday. He proposed the 24-hour truce, Meshaal and Hamas agreed,” senior Palestinian official Nabil Shaath told AFP on Tuesday.

However, Hamas said so far it had not agreed to any new truce and was waiting for Israel to show its hand first.

“When we have an Israeli commitment… on a humanitarian truce, we will look into it but we will never declare a truce from our side while the occupation keeps killing our children,” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said.

Israel’s government had no comment on the proposal.

At ‘breaking point’

UNRWA, the main U.N. relief agency in Gaza, said it was at “breaking point” with more than 200,000 Palestinians having taken shelter in its schools and buildings following calls by Israel for civilians to evacuate whole neighborhoods before military operations.

The agency acknowledged that it had found a cache of rockets in one school. but blamed no particular party. The body’s spokesman, Chris Gunness, condemned those responsible for placing people in harm’s way.

“We condemn the group or groups who endangered civilians by placing these munitions in our school. This is yet another flagrant violation of the neutrality of our premises. We call on all the warring parties to respect the inviolability of U.N. property.” Gunness said in a statement.

The Israeli assault intensified after the deaths of 10 soldiers in Palestinian cross-border attacks on Monday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of a long conflict ahead.

The security cabinet convenes again on Wednesday to assess the situation in the conflict and consider future steps.

The army said it needed about a week to complete its main mission of destroying cross-border infiltration tunnels and there has been strong Israeli public support for holding course.

Diplomatic moves

Diplomatic pressure also mounted Wednesday, with Chile and Peru saying they were recalling their ambassadors to Israel.

Chile, a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, is home to one of the world’s largest Palestinian communities outside the Middle East, as well as a sizeable Jewish community.

“Chile observes with great concern and discouragement that the military operations – which at this point appear to be a collective punishment to the Palestinian civil population in Gaza – don’t respect fundamental norms of international humanitarian law,” its foreign ministry said.

In a bid to boost Palestinian spirits and demoralize Israel, Hamas TV aired footage it said showed the group’s fighters using a tunnel to reach an Israeli army watchtower on Monday. They are seen surprising an Israeli sentry, opening fire and storming the watchtower compound to surround a fallen soldier.

Mohammed Deif, the shadowy leader of Hamas’s armed wing, said in a recorded message on television that Palestinians would continue confronting Israel until its blockade on Gaza – which is supported by neighboring Egypt – was lifted.

“The occupying entity will not enjoy security unless our people live in freedom and dignity,” Deif said. “There will be no cease-fire before the (Israeli) aggression is stopped and the blockade is lifted. We will not accept interim solutions.”

Israel has balked at freeing up Gaza’s borders under a de-escalation deal unless Hamas’s disarmament is also guaranteed.

Egypt said on Tuesday it was revising an unconditional truce proposal that Israel had originally accepted but Hamas rejected, and that the new offer would be presented to a Palestinian delegation. An Israeli official said Israel might send its own envoy to Cairo.

“We are hearing that Israel has approved a cease-fire but Hamas has not,” an Egyptian official told Reuters, an account that the Netanyahu government neither confirmed nor denied.

Supports cease-fire

The U.S.-backed administration of Abbas in the Israeli-occupied West Bank voiced support on Tuesday for a 24-72 hour cease-fire. It said it was also speaking for Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri disputed that statement but confirmed there were “intensive, ongoing contacts” on a truce.

Both U.S. President Barack Obama and the U.N. Security Council have called for an immediate cease-fire to allow relief to reach Gaza’s 1.8 million Palestinians, followed by negotiations on a more durable end to hostilities.

Efforts led by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry last week failed to achieve a breakthrough, and the explosion of violence appeared to dash international hopes of turning a brief lull for the Muslim Eid al-Fitr festival into a longer-term cease-fire.

Hamas preaches the Jewish state’s destruction, but has been open to long-term cease-fires. Since it is shunned by the United States and Israel as a terrorist group, Kerry’s mediation has been facilitated by Egypt, Turkey, Qatar and Abbas.

Palestinians launched 54 rockets towards southern and central Israel, including the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem area, on Tuesday, the military said. Five were shot down by Iron Dome interceptors while the rest fell wide, causing no damage.

Scott Bobb contributed to this report from Gaza. Some information for this report provided by Reuters, AP and AFP.