At least 50 Palestinians have been killed in a series of Israeli air strikes in northern Gaza, a local hospital says.
The Indonesian hospital reported that 22 children and 15 women were among the dead after a number of homes in Jabalia town and refugee camp were hit overnight. A video shared online appeared to show at least a dozen bodies on the floor there.
The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports. It had warned residents of Jabalia and neighbouring areas to evacuate on Tuesday after a Palestinian armed group launched rockets into Israel.
It came as the UN’s humanitarian affairs chief urged members of the UN Security Council to take action to “prevent genocide” in Gaza.
Speaking at a meeting in New York on Tuesday, Tom Fletcher accused Israel of “deliberately and unashamedly imposing inhumane conditions on civilians”.
He also called on Israel to lift its 10-week blockade on Gaza and criticised the Israeli-US plan to take over the distribution of humanitarian aid by using private companies, saying it was a “fig leaf for further violence and displacement” of Palestinians.
Israel’s envoy to the UN, Danny Danon, said the accusations were “baseless and outrageous”.
He insisted the existing system for aid was “broken” because it was being used to help Hamas’s war effort – an allegation both the UN and the armed group have denied.
Local health officials said a total of 70 people were killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza on Wednesday, most of them around Jabalia.
Residents of the northern area reported hearing multiple explosions overnight, and videos shared by activists showed flames lighting up the sky.
As he clambered over the rubble of a collapsed building, Hadi Moqbel, 42, said several members of his family were killed.
“They fired two rockets, they told us the house of Moqbel [had been hit],” he told Reuters news agency.
“We came running, we saw body parts on the ground, children killed, [a] woman killed and a baby killed… He was two months old.”
On Tuesday night, the Israeli military issued what it described as a “final warning” to residents of Jabalia town, Jabalia camp and five neighbouring areas.
It ordered them to evacuate immediately to shelters in Gaza City, saying Israeli forces would “attack with great force any area from which rockets are launched”.
Earlier, the military said three rockets launched from Gaza crossed into Israeli territory, triggering sirens in Israeli border communities and the town of Sderot. Two of the rockets were intercepted by the Israeli air force and the third fell in an open area, it added.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an armed group allied to Hamas, said it launched the rockets in response to what it called “Zionist massacres”.
Casualties from the strikes on Jabalia were brought to nearby Indonesian hospital
Israel cut off all deliveries of aid and other supplies to Gaza on 2 March and resumed its offensive against Hamas on 18 March after the collapse of a two-month ceasefire.
The UN says 20% of the 2.1 million population has been displaced again, and that 70% of Gaza is now either within Israeli military “no-go” zones or under evacuation orders.
Severe shortages of food and fuel have forced all UN-supported bakeries and more than 60% of the 180 community kitchens providing hot meals to shut down.
A UN-backed assessment released on Monday warned that the entire population was facing high levels of acute food insecurity, with half a million people facing starvation.
The UN has said Israel is obliged under international law to ensure food and medical supplies for Gaza’s population. Israel has said it is complying with international law and there is no shortage of aid because thousands of lorry loads entered during the ceasefire.
Palestinians are hoping Hamas’s decision on Monday to release the last living Israeli-American hostage in Gaza, Edan Alexander, could pave the way for a possible new ceasefire deal with Israel and the end of the blockade.
Hamas said it freed Mr Alexander as a goodwill gesture to US President Donald Trump, who is visiting the Middle East this week.
On Wednesday, Trump told a summit of Gulf leaders in Riyadh that he was hopeful that more of the 58 hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza would be freed.
“All hostages must be released as a stepping stone to peace,” he said. “I think that’s going to be happening.”
At the same time, his special envoys Steve Witkoff and Adam Boehler participated in a new round of talks in Qatar.
Witkoff told hostages’ relatives in Israel on Tuesday: “The president’s not going to tolerate anything other than everybody coming home.”
Israel’s prime minister said its forces would enter Gaza in the coming days “with full force” to destroy Hamas
Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said Israel is preparing to expand its military offensive in Gaza and insisted that nothing will stop the war.
He told injured reservist soldiers on Monday that Israeli forces would go into the territory in the coming days “with full force to complete the operation” to destroy Hamas.
“There will be no situation where we stop the war. A temporary ceasefire might happen, but we are going all the way,” he added.
On Tuesday, a massive Israeli air strike on the European hospital’s compound in Khan Younis killed at least 28 people, according to local officials.
The Israeli military described it as “a precise strike on Hamas terrorists who were operating in a command-and-control centre” underneath the hospital.
Israeli media reports said the target was Mohammed Sinwar, who is believed to have become the top Hamas leader in Gaza after his brother Yahya was killed by Israeli forces last October.
Israel launched a military campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
At least 52,928 people have been killed in Gaza since then, including 2,799 since the Israeli offensive resumed, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
BBC
