Israel launched further air raids on Gaza’s largest refugee camp on Wednesday, prompting UN rights authorities to warn that hitting heavily populated residential areas “could amount to war crimes.”
Bombs exploded at the Jabalia camp for the second time in two days, destroying structures and killing dozens of people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
The AFP witnessed considerable devastation at the scene, with people desperately clawing through wreckage to remove bleeding victims.
Israel claimed that its fighter jets carried out the hit, targeting “a Hamas command and control complex” and “eliminating” an unspecified number of fighters.
Rescuers stated “whole families” had killed, but fatality figures were not immediately available.
Since October 7, when Hamas terrorists broke into Israel and killed 1,400 people, including many civilians, Israel has struck almost 11,000 targets in Gaza.
Many countries supported Israel’s right to respond to Hamas, but as the civilian toll has risen, so has condemnation of Israeli actions.
According to the Gaza health ministry, 8,796 Gazans have been killed so far, the majority of them are women and children. In Gaza, entire neighborhoods have been destroyed.
According to an AFP count, Israeli soldiers had already struck the Jabalia camp on Tuesday, killing at least 47 people.
The UN condemned Israel’s recent bombings, joining a chorus of international censure from as far away as Bolivia, which cut diplomatic ties in protest.
The UN’s top human rights panel, citing “the high number of civilian casualties” and the scope of destruction, expressed “serious concerns that these are disproportionate attacks that could amount to war crimes.”
Jordan’s ambassador to Israel was summoned “to condemn the Israeli war that is killing innocent people in Gaza.”
Israel has denied similar charges, claiming that Hamas purposely hides command stations and arsenals used to strike Israeli citizens in civilian areas.
The IDF says the hit on Jabalia on Tuesday killed Hamas battalion commander Ibrahim Biari and destroyed an underground tunnel complex.
Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht named Bihari as a “high-value target” who sent Hamas commandos during the October 7 strikes and has since “overseen Hamas’ battle efforts in northern Gaza.”
“Our war is not with the people of Gaza,” he said. “The Palestinian people deserve peace and safety. Instead they are exploited as shields.”
Hamas said seven of the 240 captives it holds, including three foreign passport holders, were killed in Tuesday’s attack, a claim that could not be verified.
Ismail Haniyeh, the group’s leader, accused Israel of committing “barbaric massacres against unarmed civilians” in order to cover up its own “defeats.”