Israeli attacks kill at least 33 people in Jabalia, northern Gaza

The media office of the Hamas-run Gaza government said the death toll from the attacks could rise because some people were reportedly trapped under the rubble. The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said children were among the dead. There was no immediate Israeli comment.

Further Israeli attacks killed at least 39 Palestinians in Gaza on Friday, 20 of them in Jabalia, the Gaza Health Ministry said.

Residents of Jabalia, located in the north of the Gaza Strip, said that Israeli tanks reached the heart of the refugee camp, using heavy weapons from the air and ground, after passing through suburbs and residential neighborhoods. They also claimed that the Israeli army is destroying dozens of homes every day, both from the air and on the ground, as well as placing bombs in buildings and detonating them remotely. The Israeli military maintains that its forces, which have been operating in Jabalia for the past two weeks, killed dozens of militants on Thursday, in addition to carrying out bombings and destroying military infrastructure. This Friday, residents of Jabalia and two other nearby cities stated that telecommunications and internet services were cut, thus hindering rescue work carried out by ambulance teams and making it difficult to search for help. The intensification of the offensive on Jabalia comes a day after Israel said it had killed the country’s number one enemy and head of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar, whom the Israelis blame for the October 7 attack. The Israeli military claims that its operation in Jabalia aims to prevent Hamas fighters from regrouping to carry out more attacks. Residents say Israel actually isolated towns further north in the enclave — such as Beit Hanoun, Jabalia and Beit Lahiya — from Gaza City, thus preventing movement except for families who obeyed orders and left the three towns. (Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi)