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At least 33 people were killed and 85 wounded in Israeli strikes that hit several houses at a square yesterday in Jabaliya, the largest of Gaza’s eight historic refugee camps, medics said, where residents said tanks blew up roads and houses as they thrust further into the territory.
The Palestinian official news agency Wafa said at least 20 women and children were among those killed. Medics said at least 50 other people were wounded.
Before the new strikes, the Gaza health ministry said at least 39 Palestinians, 20 of them in Jabaliya, had been killed by Israeli military strikes across Gaza yesterday.
Destruction
Residents of Jabaliya in northern Gaza said Israeli tanks had reached the heart of the camp, using heavy air and ground fire, after pushing through suburbs and residential districts.
They added that the Israeli army was destroying dozens of houses daily, from the air and ground, and by placing bombs in buildings then detonating them remotely.
Later, residents in Jabaliya and two nearby towns said communications and Internet services were cut, disrupting rescue operations by ambulance teams and the ability of people affected by Israeli operations to seek help. The escalation of Israel’s Jabaliya operation came a day after it said it had killed Hamas’ chief Yahya Sinwar, whom it blamed for ordering the October 7 attack on Israel – the deadliest in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Israeli military says its operation in Jabaliya is intended to stop Hamas fighters regrouping for more attacks.
Residents said Israeli forces had effectively isolated the far northern Gazan towns of Beit Hanoun, Jabaliya, and Beit Lahiya from Gaza City, blocking movement except for those families heeding evacuation orders and leaving the three towns.
Yesterday, health officials appealed for fuel, medical supplies and food to be sent immediately to three northern Gaza hospitals overwhelmed by the number of patients and injuries.
At the Kamal Adwan Hospital, medics had to replace children in intensive care with more critical cases of adults badly wounded by Israeli air strikes on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Jabaliya on Thursday. The attack killed 28 people.
Kamal Adwan’s director, Hussam Abu Safiya, said in a video sent to the media that the children had been moved to another division inside the facility, where they were being well taken care of.
Israel said it sent in about 30 truck-loads of aid into northern Gaza yesterday including food, water, medical supplies, and shelter equipment.
Hamas and health officials, however, say the aid has not been reaching the worst affected areas, including Jabaliya, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, said on X that the attack on the school was the third on an UNRWA facility this week, adding the agency had now lost 231 team members in the past year of fighting.
Abu Safiya said medical staff were exhausted and hospital supplies, including food, were being badly depleted.
Doctors at the Kamal Adwan, Al Awda and Indonesian hospitals have refused to leave their patients despite evacuation orders issued by the Israeli military at the start of its Jabaliya push.
Northern Gaza, which had been home to well over half the territory’s 2.3 million people, was bombed to rubble in the first phase of Israel’s assault a year ago.
Israel began its military campaign after the October 7 attacks on southern Israel by Hamas-led fighters, who killed 1,200 people and captured 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
More than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive so far, according to Gaza’s health authorities.
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