Israel has pounded the Hamas-run Gaza Strip with air and artillery strikes after an intense night of attacks when it said 150 “underground targets” were hit.

No official toll was immediately given, but a Gaza civil defence official told AFP that a “large number” of dead was feared from one of the most intense nights of attacks in Israel’s war.

A thick haze of smoke covered Gaza and southern Israel after the night of heavy bombardment, according to AFP correspondents. More air raids and artillery shelling were reported after daybreak but less intense than during the night.

The Gaza civil defence official told AFP: “There are a large number of martyrs and a large number of survivors under the rubble, and we cannot reach them,” the official said.

Residents told AFP that the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia was damaged by a tank shell and there was major damage around Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s biggest hospital where thousands of people have taken refuge.

Paramedics said many people were feared dead after an apartment block and nearby houses were destroyed at dawn at the Beach camp.