Israeli strikes have killed at least 33 people including 21 women at a refugee camp in northern Gaza, the strip’s Hamas-run authorities say.
More than 85 people were said to be injured, some seriously, as homes belonging to three families in the camp were hit.
A video circulating on social media – which the BBC has not verified – appears to show bodies wrapped in white shrouds laid out in the courtyard of al-Awda Hospital.
Israeli forces have besieged the densely-populated Jabalia refugee camp for weeks.
The director of al-Awda hospital said it had experienced an overwhelming influx of casualties, leaving hospital wards “completely full” with many of the injured “receiving treatment on the floor.”
Nearby in Beit Lahia, the Indonesian Hospital came under “heavy gunfire” from Israeli forces on Saturday, the Hamas-run health ministry said.
The ministry said more than 40 patients, as well as medical staff, were inside the hospital, and later said two people had died due to an “outage of electricity” and lack of “medical supplies”.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its troops were operating near the hospital and there “was no intentional fire directed at it”.
Local sources indicate that northern Gaza is effectively isolated, with telecommunications and internet services severed in the region.
About 400,000 people have been trapped inside Jabalia camp with little food or water for more than two weeks.
The head of the UN’s Office for Humanitarian Assistance, Georgios Petropoulos, told the BBC’s Newshour programme that families in Jabalia were enduring “atrocious conditions”.
“We can’t hit the alarm bell hard enough about how dire and dangerous the situation for civilians there is,” he said, speaking from Rafah in southern Gaza.
Israel said it had sent about 30 lorries of supplies into northern Gaza on Friday including food, water, medical supplies and shelter equipment but local health officials told Reuters aid had not been reaching the worst-affected areas such as Jabalia.
Israel has repeatedly denied it is preventing humanitarian aid from entering Gaza but the US has told it to boost access or risk having some American military assistance cut off.
An Israeli minister, Amichai Chikli, told the BBC Israel had “blockaded” parts of northern Gaza, which include Jabalia.
“We allowed the civilian population to escape into the safe zone, and we prevented supplies to enter the blockade region,” he told the Newshour programme.
He insisted this was “legal according to the international law”.
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was confirmed to have been killed in Gaza on Thursday.
According to the Israeli military, he died in a firefight after the building where he was hiding in the southern Gaza city of Rafah was struck with “tank fire”.
The pathologist in Israel who conducted his autopsy told US media he had been shot in the head.
Dr Chen Kugel also found injuries to his right forearm from “missile fire”, a damaged left leg from “fallen masonry” and shrapnel injuries.
His death raised some hopes in some quarters for an end to the war, but the group’s deputy leader said Hamas would only be strengthened.
US President Joe Biden has said there is a chance of “working towards a ceasefire” in Lebanon, where Israel is fighting Hezbollah militants, but it will be “harder in Gaza”.
He was speaking as he left the German capital Berlin, where he had met German, French and British leaders.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Saturday the death of Hamas leader Sinwar will not halt the “Axis of Resistance” – the regional network of Iran-backed, heavily armed militias that oppose Israel.
“Hamas is alive and will remain alive,” Khamenei’s statement added.
On Friday, Hamas deputy leader Khalil al-Hayya said Israeli hostages would not be returned until Israel ended the war and withdrew from Gaza.
The war in Gaza began after Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 left around 1,200 people dead, with 251 taken to Gaza as hostages.
Israel vowed to destroy Hamas in response, and since then at least 42,500 people have been killed and tens of thousands injured in Gaza, the Hamas-run authorities say.
On Friday, fighting also continued in Lebanon, where Israel has been conducting a ground invasion against Hezbollah.
The Israeli military said it had killed about 60 Hezbollah fighters and destroyed the Iran-backed group’s regional command centre with an air strike.
Hezbollah said it had fired rockets at the Israeli city of Haifa and areas to its north.
Discussion with Experts
To further explore the impacts of this conflict, we invite leading experts in conflict resolution and humanitarian law to share their insights:
- Dr. Sarah Cohen, Conflict Resolution Specialist
- Prof. Jonathan Rafferty, Humanitarian Law Expert
- Lisa Matthews, Middle East Policy Analyst
In our discussion, we posed the following questions:
- What are the immediate humanitarian needs following these attacks?
- How can international law play a role in preventing further civilian casualties?
- What steps can be taken by the international community to address the ongoing crisis?
Join the Conversation
What are your thoughts on the situation in Gaza? Do you think international efforts can make a difference? Share your opinions in the comments below!