Scores were reported killed in overnight strikes across the Gaza Strip after Hamas said it needed more time to consider a proposal that would halt the conflict with Israel in the besieged Palestinian territory.

Gaza’s health ministry said that at least 92 people had been killed overnight, including in what it said was an Israeli bombardment of a kindergarten in Rafah where displaced people were sheltering.

Concerns over a potential Israeli ground incursion into the southern border city have mounted in recent days, with hundreds of thousands of displaced seeking refuge from the fighting there in makeshift shelters and encampments.

Many made the journey from even harder-hit areas after being told the city was a safe zone, but strikes have continued there as well, with mourners gathering outside a local hospital to pray for the dead after another bombardment.

“The children were just sleeping and suddenly the bombardment happened. The bedroom fell on my children. God took one of my children and three escaped death,” Ahmad Bassam al-Jamal told AFP, his voice breaking. “My child now is a martyr in heaven.”