Israeli military kills at least 40 in Gaza, Palestinian officials say, as tanks deepen raid in the north
Israeli military strikes were reported to have killed at least 40 Palestinians across the┬аGaza┬аStrip as Israeli forces tightened their squeeze around Jabalia in the north of the enclave on Tuesday, amid fierce battles with Hamas-led fighters.
Palestinian health officials said at least 11 people were killed by Israeli fire near Al-Falouja in Jabalia, the largest of┬аGaza’s eight historic refugee camps, while 10 others were killed in Bani Suhaila in eastern Khan Younis in the south when an Israeli missile struck a house.
Earlier on Tuesday, an Israeli airstrike destroyed three houses in the Sabra suburb of┬аGaza┬аCity, and the local civil emergency service said they recovered two bodies from the site, while the search continued for 12 other people who were believed to have been in the houses at the time of the strike.
Five others were killed when a house was struck in the Nuseirat camp in central┬аGaza.
Jabalia has been the focus of an Israeli offensive for more than 10 days, with troops returning to areas of the north that came under┬аheavy bombardment┬аin the early months of the┬аyear-long war.
Israeli troops appear to be ‘cutting off’ north Gaza: UN
The operation has raised concerns among Palestinians and UN┬аagencies that Israel wants to clear residents from the north of the crowded enclave, a charge it has denied.
The United Nations human rights office said on Tuesday the Israeli military appeared to be “cutting off north┬аGaza┬аcompletely from the rest of the┬аGaza┬аStrip.”
“Amid intense ongoing hostilities and evacuation orders in northern┬аGaza, families are facing unimaginable fear, loss of loved ones, confusion, and exhaustion. People must be able to flee safely, without facing further danger,” Adrian Zimmerman, ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) Gaza┬аhead of sub-delegation, said in a statement.
“Many, including the sick and disabled, cannot leave, and they remain protected under international humanitarian law тАФ┬аall possible precautions must be taken to ensure they remain unharmed. Every person displaced has the right to return home in safety,” he said.
The Israeli military has now encircled the Jabalia camp and sent tanks into nearby Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun towns, with the declared aim of stamping out Hamas fighters who are trying to regroup there.
The Israeli military has told residents to leave their homes and head to safety in southern┬аGaza. Palestinian and UN┬аofficials say there was no place safe in┬аGaza.
Around 400,000 people remain in north, UN estimates
Israeli officials said evacuation orders were aimed at separating Hamas fighters from civilians and denied that there was any systematic plan to clear civilians out of Jabalia or other northern areas.
Hamas’s armed wing said fighters were engaged in fierce battles with Israeli forces in and around Jabalia.
Zimmerman also urged for health facilities in the north to be protected, saying hospitals there were struggling to provide medical services.
Gaza’s health ministry said the army ordered the three hospitals operating there to evacuate, but medical staffers said they were determined to continue their services even though they are overwhelmed by the growing number of casualties.
On Monday, UN┬аSecretary General Ant├│nio┬аGuterres condemned the level of civilian casualties in┬аnorthern┬аGaza.
The northern part of┬аGaza┬аis home to well over half the territory’s 2.3 million people and hundreds of thousands of residents were forced to flee their homes amidst heavy bombing in the first phase of Israel’s assault on the territory.
Around 400,000 people remained, according to United Nations estimates.
Israel launched the offensive against Hamas after its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and around 250 taken hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. More than 42,000 Palestinians have been reported killed in the offensive so far, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced and much of the enclave has been laid to waste.
Polio vaccination campaign underway
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday it had been able to start its polio campaign in central┬аGaza┬аand vaccinate tens of thousands of children despite Israeli strikes in the designated protected zone hours before.
As part of an agreement between the Israeli military and Palestinian militant group Hamas, humanitarian pauses in the year-long┬аGaza┬аwar┬аhad been due to begin early on Monday to reach hundreds of thousands of children.
However, hours before then, the UN┬аhumanitarian office said Israeli forces struck tents near Al-Aqsa Hospital, where it said four people were burned to death.
The UN┬аPalestinian refugee agency UNRWA said one of its schools in the central┬аGazan city of Nuseirat, intended as a vaccination site, was hit overnight between Sunday and Monday, killing up to 22 people.
WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic┬аtold a Geneva news┬аbriefing that over 92,000 children, or around half of the children targeted for polio vaccines in the central area, had been inoculated on Monday.
“What we have received from colleagues is that the vaccination went without a major issue yesterday, and we hope It will continue the same way,” he said.
Other humanitarian agencies have previously┬аvoiced concerns┬аabout the viability of the polio campaign in northern┬аGaza, where an┬аIsraeli offensive┬аis under way.
Aid groups carried out an initial round of vaccinations last month, after a baby was partially paralyzed by the Type 2 polio virus in August, in the first such case in the territory in 25 years.