Israeli shelling near a southern Gaza hospital has killed 41 people over the past two days, the Palestinian Red Crescent said, after Israel stepped up its attacks in the centre and south of the besieged territory.

Israel’s relentless aerial bombardment and ground invasion in Gaza have killed at least 21,320 people, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza health ministry.

The UN humanitarian office said Thursday that an estimated 100,000 more displaced people had arrived in the already-teeming southern border city of Rafah in recent days following the intensification of fighting around Deir al-Balah and Khan Yunis.

The extra displacements came as Egyptian officials prepared to receive a high-level Hamas delegation in Cairo on Friday for talks on a new proposal aimed at putting an end to nearly three months of conflict that has devastated Gaza.

The Palestinian Red Crescent on Thursday condemned what it said was Israeli shelling near the Al-Amal hospital in Khan Yunis that “led to the martyrdom of ten people and the injury of at least 21 others”, adding the attack followed one in front of the hospital the day before that killed 31.

“Among the casualties are individuals present in front of the hospital and displaced persons seeking shelter at the PRCS (Red Crescent) premises,” the group said in a statement.

Later in the day, Gaza’s health ministry said Israeli shelling had killed 20 people, most of them women and children, at the Shaboura camp in Rafah, on the southern border with Egypt.