Israel Carries Out Airstrike Against Hamas At Gaza's Jabalia Refugee - IDF Claims Senior Jihadi Commander Killed
In a statement, the IDF said: 'A short while ago, IDF fighter jets, acting on ISA intelligence, killed Ibrahim Biari, the Commander of Hamas' Central Jabaliya Battalion. Biari was one of the leaders responsible for sending 'Nukbha' terrorist operatives to Israel to carry out the murderous terror attack on October 7th.'
Buildings have been levelled in the densely-populated neighbourhood, opening up huge sinkholes, with residents likening it to an earthquake and saying that the ground began to collapse around them.
Pictures show apocalyptic scenes, with scores of distraught onlookers gathered around two vast craters which some clambered into as they desperately searched for any survivors.
Meanwhile, dozens of white body bags have filled up the nearby streets, awaiting burial at the hospital near the encampment.
A Gazan health ministry statement said: 'More than 50 martyrs and around 150 wounded and dozens under the rubble, in a heinous Israeli massacre that targeted a large area of homes in Jabalia camp in the northern Strip.'
If confirmed, the number will increase an already mounting death toll in Gaza - which Hamas earlier declared had topped 8,525. The majority of those killed are thought to be civilians.
Jabalia is the largest of the besieged enclave's eight refugee camps and is densely populated - with 116,000 refugees registered there and residents forced to live in crammed, substandard conditions, according to the United Nations.
The IDF said that 'numerous Hamas terrorists were hit in the strike'. They said that Biari was also responsible for sending terrorists to murder 13 Israelis in Ashdod Port in 2004 and directing rocket fire and other attacks on Israel for the last two decades.
The IDF added: 'His elimination was carried out as part of a wide-scale strike on terrorists and terror infrastructure belonging to the Central Jabaliya Battalion, which had taken control over civilian buildings in Gaza City.
'The strike damaged Hamas' command and control in the area, as well as its ability to direct military activity against IDF soldiers operating throughout the Gaza Strip. As a result of the strike, a large number of terrorists who were with Biari were killed.
'Underground terror infrastructure embedded beneath the buildings, used by the terrorists, also collapsed after the strike. The IDF reiterates its call to the residents of the area to move south for their safety.'
Speaking at a news conference, Hagari said that the targeting of the office that Biari was based at led to other buildings collapsing. In Hebrew, he said: 'The purpose of that infrastructure was to carry out terrorist activities against our forces. The entire infrastructure collapsed and many terrorists were killed.'
He added: 'Hamas terrorists continue to use the civilian population as human shields intentionally and in a very cruel and brutal manner.'
Hagari said that Israel will continue to operate with 'full force' in Gaza City as he urged Palestinians to move south.
Figures released by Hamas on the number of Hamas casualties cannot be independently verified. However, journalists on the ground in Jabalia have reported seeing dozens of bodies, with more expected to be trapped under the rubble.
Aerial photographs show scenes of utter devastation with high rise buildings ripped apart and flattened, with only charred debris remaining where they once stood.
Agonised cries filled the dusty air as volunteers clawed through the concrete blocks and twisted metal in a desperate search for survivors and bodies.
Ragheb Aqal, a Jabalia resident, described the blasts as 'an earthquake' which shook the entire refugee camp.
'I went and saw the destruction... homes buried under the rubble and body parts and martyrs and wounded in huge numbers,' the 41-year-old told AFP.
'There's no exaggerating when they talk about hundreds of martyrs and wounded.
People were still 'transporting the remains of children, women and elderly', he added.
A spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent told Al Jazeera that emergency workers are still desperately trying to transfer casualties to hospital following the attack.
According to the UN, the camp is overcrowded and those living there have poor living conditions.
'Shelters are built in close proximity to one another and there is a general lack of recreational and social space. In many cases, residents have had to add extra floors to their shelters to accommodate their families. Often, these lack proper design. Many live in substandard conditions,' it says.
Pictures from another refugee camp, Nuseirat in central Gaza, show decimated buildings after what Palestinian media claims was another Israeli strike.
It comes after authorities in the Gaza Strip said the death toll had risen to 8,525 since Israel launched its bombing campaign on October 7, which would mean, as over recent weeks, that hundreds were killed in overnight raids.
Israel today said it has killed 'dozens' of Hamas terrorists during 'fierce' fighting 'deep' inside Gaza with video showing soldiers scouring the streets for the gunmen amid raging battles.
Israel said its forces had fought Hamas gunmen inside the militants' vast tunnel network today, attacking Hamas positions in a bid to free hostages trapped there.
Israel is expanding ground operations inside Gaza to wipe out Hamas following its gun rampage three weeks ago that killed over 1,400 people.
In the fifth day of major ground operations inside northern Gaza, the army said it had engaged in 'fierce battles' with Hamas terrorists, with footage showing columns of tanks and soldiers advancing further into the besieged enclave.
The IDF said its forces 'struck a Hamas terrorist outpost' in the northern Gaza Strip in the last few hours where they killed 'dozens' of gunmen and destroyed anti-tank missile launch and observation posts.
Video released by the IDF shows Israeli troops walking through the bombed out streets of northern Gaza while raising their guns at the destroyed buildings - ready to pounce at any movement of Hamas terrorists potentially hiding within.
The army said it had hit around 300 targets and confiscated 'numerous weapons' such as guns and bombs as well as 'military compounds inside underground tunnels' belonging to Hamas terrorists.
The tunnels under the cramped enclave are a prime objective for Israel. Some of the 240 hostages that Israel says were seized by Hamas that day are believed to be held in the tunnel complex, adding a further complication for the Israelis on top of the difficulties of fighting in an urban setting.
In response, Hamas gunmen attacked Israeli forces with machine gun fire and anti-tank missiles. 'The soldiers killed terrorists and directed air forces to real-time strikes on targets and terror infrastructure,' the IDF said.
And Hamas terrorists launched nine Grad rockets at the southern city of Ashdod today, leaving four people injured, one of whom is said to be 'very serious'. Video shows cars engulfed in flames, with black smoke filling the air.
Israel launched the war on October 7 in retribution for Hamas-led raids on Israeli homes, farms and villages that killed an estimated 1,400 people, according to Israeli officials.
More than three weeks of massive and sustained Israeli aerial bombardments have been followed by a large-scale ground offensive inside Gaza.
On Monday, witnesses said Israeli forces targeted Gaza's main north-south road on Monday and attacked Gaza City from two directions. They said they saw 'dozens' of Israeli tanks operating on the southern outskirts of Gaza City.
Jonathan Conricus, an Israeli military spokesman, said ground operations are focused on northern Gaza, including Gaza City, which he said was the 'centr of gravity of Hamas.'
'But we also continue to strike in other parts of Gaza. We are hunting their commanders, we are attacking their infrastructure, and whenever there is an important target that is related to Hamas, we strike it,' he said.
Israel's military also released images of mechanized units grinding through coastal sands in northern Gaza. Video also shows soldiers walking across an open area as heavy gunfire echoes in the background and setting up a position in the ruins of a heavily damaged building.
They claimed an early victory: the rescue of one missing woman soldier from Hamas captivity.
The release of Private Ori Megidish, 19, was 'secured during a ground operation' inside Gaza the army said, adding she was now in Israel, reunited with family and was 'doing well'.
'She has provided intelligence that we'll be able to use for future operations' said army spokesman Jonathan Conricus. 'We are committed and determined to get all of the 238 hostages that are still inside Gaza,' he added. The IDF has since increased the number of hostages to 240.
But the toll of Israel's war in Gaza has sparked a global backlash.
Conricus said some 800,000 people have heeded the Israeli military's orders to flee from the northern part of the strip to the south. But tens of thousands of people remain in and around Gaza City, and casualties are expected to mount on both sides as the battle moves into dense, residential neighbourhoods.
According to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, Israel's relentless bombing campaign has killed 8,306 people, including 3,457 children, since October 7.
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