Israeli airstrikes crush apartments in Gaza refugee camp; military claims Hamas commander killed

Israel has vowed to crush Hamas’ ability to govern Gaza or threaten Israel following the Oct. 7 assault, which ignited the war.

By: Express Web Desk

Bengaluru | Updated: November 1, 2023 09:00 AM IST

3 min read

Palestinians inspect the damage of buildings destroyed by Israeli airstrikes on Jabaliya refugee camp on the outskirts of Gaza City on Tuesday. (AP Photo)

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At least 50 Gazans were killed and several others injured in an Israeli airstrike on the densely-populated Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, which Israel said killed several Hamas operatives, including a senior leader involved in the planning and execution of the October 7 attacks.

Palestinian health officials said that at least 50 Palestinians were killed and 150 wounded in the airstrikes which left large craters surrounded by wrecked concrete buildings.

Dr Atef al-Kahlout, director of the Indonesian Hospital, also told Al Jazeera that more than 50 people have been killed and that the hospital was still working to confirm the numbers.

Israel Defence Forces, in a statement, said that the airstrike on Gaza’s largest refugee camp had killed Ibrahim Biari and dozens of Hamas combatants who were in the same underground tunnel complex as Biari.

“He [Biari] was very important, I would say even pivotal in the planning and the execution of the October 7 attack against Israel from the northeastern parts of the Gaza Strip,” said IDF spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, as per a Reuters report.

“And I understand that is also the reason why there are many reports of collateral damage and non-combatant casualties. We’re looking into those as well,” Cornicus added.

However, Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem denied any senior commander was killed in the airstrikes and called the claim an Israeli pretext for killing civilians.

Photos and videos showed the aftermath of the strikes in which residents dug across large craters and rubble to locate survivors under the collapsed buildings. A Reuters report said that dozens of bodies lay shrouded in white were lined up against the side of the Indonesian Hospital.

“I went and saw the destruction… homes buried under the rubble and body parts and martyrs and wounded in huge numbers,” a Jabalia resident Ragheb Aqal told the news agency AFP.

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More than 8,525 Palestinians, including 3,500 children, have been killed in Israeli airstrikes since October 7. The Israeli offensive is in retaliation to the deadly Hamas attack that killed at least 1,400 Israelis, mostly civilians, and resulted in the abduction of over 200 civilians and soldiers by the Palestinian militant group.

Since then, Israel has declared a “complete siege” on Gaza, cutting off food, water, fuel and electricity to the 2.3 million Palestinians living in the besieged Gaza Strip. After weeks of intense bombarding, Israel launched a ground offensive in northern Gaza earlier this week.

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