Israeli strike on northern Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp kills 22

As Israeli forces continue their ground assault in the area, at least 22 people have died as a result of an Israeli attack on the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.

The Israeli military issued evacuation orders for northern Gaza on Saturday as the death toll soared, and residents of Jabalia were instructed to move to the south of the enclave.

A week ago, Israel’s military launched a deadly offensive in the Jabalia region, which it claims is intended to stop Hamas’ Palestinians from resitting. The attacks have trapped thousands of Palestinian civilians, international charity Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, said.

Israeli fighter jets bombed a Jabalia apartment block on Friday night, hitting four inhabited homes, and killing 22 people, according to a report from the Palestinian news agency Wafa on Saturday.

At least 30 people were injured, and 14 people remain missing and are believed to be buried under the rubble, according to Wafa.

Hani Mahmoud, a journalist from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, reported on “powerful explosions were audible in the northern part of the Gaza Strip,” adding that many of the injured were “arriving at the hospital either in pieces or soaked in blood.”

The north of the Kamal Adwan Hospital was dangerously close to running out of fuel, and staff claimed Israeli soldiers had ordered them to leave.

Reporting from the facility, Al Jazeera’s Moath al-Kahlout described the weeklong siege as “suffocating”.

The situation is “dire”, he reported, as the hospital has also been ordered by the Israeli military to cease operations. However, he claimed that the hospital continues to treat people from newborns to those who are severely injured.

Food resources are running out.

The escalating violence in northern Gaza “has a disastrous impact on food security for thousands of Palestinian families,” according to the World Food Programme (WFP) on Saturday.

The United Nations agency noted that the main crossings into the north have been closed, noting that no food aid has been arriving since October 1.

Due to air strikes, military ground operations, and evacuation orders, food distribution centers, kitchens, and bakeries have been ordered to close. The only functioning bakery in the north, which is supported by WFP, caught fire after being hit, it said.

“The north is basically cut off and we’re not able to operate there”,   said Antoine Renard, WFP country director for Palestine, adding that “safe and sustained access, it is virtually impossible to reach the people in need”.

WFP said its last remaining supplies in the north – including canned food, wheat flour, high-energy biscuits, and nutrition supplements – have been distributed to shelters, health facilities and kitchens in Gaza City and three shelters.

It is unclear how long these limited food supplies will last if the conflict keeps getting worse, and the consequences for frightened families will be dire.

According to Palestine Red Crescent Society paramedics, a separate strike hit a home in the Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza City, killing at least three people and injuring several more.

New evacuation order

On Saturday, the Israeli military issued instructions to residents in the area of Jabalia to leave. A map of northern Gaza was posted on social media platform X.

“The area must be evacuated immediately via]Salah al-Din Street] to the humanitarian area”, the post said, referring to so-called Israeli-designated humanitarian safe zones between al-Mawasi and Deir el-Balah.

The Israeli military has repeatedly attacked the “humanitarian area,” which is populated by overcrowded tent camps housing about one million Palestinian refugees.

But Palestinians, especially those in the northern parts of the enclave, are refusing to leave their homes, said Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah.

The Israeli army has conducted this ground operation in Jabalia before. Because they believe there is no safe place across the Gaza Strip, Palestinians prefer to pass away in their homes, she reported. Consequently, they could be killed on their way if they did.

According to MSF project coordinator Sarah Vuylsteke, who issued the evacuation order, “nobody is allowed to enter or depart” from within Jabalia itself, adding that “anyone who tries is being shot.”

Five MSF staff were trapped in&nbsp, Jabalia, she said.

“I don’t know what to do, at any moment we could die. People are starving. I am afraid to stay, and I am also afraid to leave”, she quoted Haydar, an MSF driver, as saying.

MSF had earlier criticized Israel’s “forcefully and violently push thousands of people from northern Gaza to the south” strategy.

Meanwhile, Anas al-Sharif, a journalist for Al Jazeera Arabic in Gaza, reported on X in the early hours of Saturday that Fadi al-Wahidi’s health had “seriously deteriorated.”

As he covered the Israeli assault on Jabalia, al-Wahidi was hit with a live round to the neck on Wednesday. While Deir el-Balah was covering the situation of displaced Palestinians, his colleague Ali al-Attar was wounded and shot.

Since Israel’s war on the Palestinian territory came after Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, a large portion of Gaza has been lost.

Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have claimed at least 42, 175 lives and 98, 336 lives, according to the Gaza-based Ministry of Health on Saturday.

Source: Aljazeera