Israel Strikes Gaza Refugee Camp, Killing Dozens
Israel launched airstrikes and ground operations on Tuesday in the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza, targeting what it claimed to be a Hamas “terrorist stronghold.” The Israeli military said that the operation resulted in the leveling of several apartment buildings in the densely populated area on the outskirts of Gaza City, killing civilians.
According to the director of Gaza’s Indonesian hospital, at least 50 people were killed and 150 were wounded in the bombardment. However, these numbers have not been independently confirmed. The Hamas-run Interior Ministry reported that there were a large number of casualties and that apartment blocks were destroyed, but it did not provide immediate details.
The Israel Defense Forces spokesperson, Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, accused Hamas of hiding behind civilians. Israel’s military claimed that Hamas had built terrorist infrastructure under residences and that the operation had killed a Hamas leader involved in a deadly attack in southern Israel on October 7. During that incident, Hamas fighters infiltrated Israeli communities, killing 1,400 people and taking about 230 hostages.
Since then, the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza reported that three weeks of Israeli strikes have killed over 8,500 people, including 3,500 children. Approximately 1 million people have been displaced from the northern half of Gaza, according to the United Nations. Calls for a halt to Israel’s bombardment of Gaza have intensified as military operations have escalated in recent days.
The Israel Defense Forces stated that approximately 50 terrorists were killed in the operation in Jabaliya. The IDF also claimed to have destroyed entrances to underground tunnels used by Hamas to store weapons and plan and launch attacks. The Israeli military asserted that “an underground military infrastructure of Hamas collapsed under these buildings” after the strikes.
Ebrahim Biari, identified by the Israeli military as Hamas’ commander of the Jabaliya center battalion, was among the Hamas leaders killed in the recent strikes. Israel claims to have killed at least 55 Hamas leaders in the ongoing conflict.
The situation between Israel and Hamas remains tense, with further developments expected in the coming days.