At least┬а45┬аpeople were killed in Israeli┬аmilitary strikes on┬аGaza┬аin the past 24 hours, Palestinian medics said on Wednesday, as Israeli forces pressed on with a raid on the Jabalia refugee camp in the enclave’s north.
The Israeli military says the raid, now in its fifth day, is intended to stop Hamas fighters staging further attacks from Jabalia and to prevent them from regrouping.
Israel has repeatedly issued evacuation orders to residents of Jabalia and nearby areas, but Palestinian and UN┬аofficials say there are no safe places to flee to in┬аthe┬аGaza┬аStrip.
The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said it had received unconfirmed reports that dozens of Palestinians may have been killed in Jabalia and other areas of northern┬аGaza, but is unable reach them because of Israeli bombardments.
“At least 400,000 people are trapped in the area,” Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN┬аaid agency for Palestinian refugees,┬аUNRWA, posted on X on Wednesday.
“Recent evacuation orders from the Israeli Authorities are forcing people to flee again & again, especially from Jabalia Camp. Many are refusing because they know too well that no place anywhere in #Gaza┬аis safe.”
Lazzarini said some UNRWA shelters and services were being forced to shut down for the first time since the war began, and that with almost no basic supplies available, hunger was spreading again in northern┬аGaza.
“This recent military operation also threatens the implementation of the second phase of the #polio vaccination campaign for children,” he wrote.
Israel did not immediately comment on Lazzarini’s remarks. Israeli authorities have previously said they facilitate food deliveries to┬аGaza┬аdespite challenging conditions.
3 hospitals ordered to evacuate
The┬аGaza Health Ministry said the army had ordered three hospitals in northern┬аGaza┬аto evacuate. Hundreds of patients and medics were trapped inside those facilities, it said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The lives of dozens of patients are at risk because of the Israeli siege around those hospitals.”
Israel’s military, which is┬аnow┬аalso in┬аconflict with Hezbollah┬аin Lebanon, says Hamas militants use residential areas as cover in densely populated Gaza, including schools and hospitals. Hamas denies this.
Exiled Hamas official Izzat El-Reshiq said in a statement that Israel’s escalation in northern┬аGaza┬аaimed to punish residents for refusing to leave their homes.
He blamed the United States, which he said claims to have worked to end the war, for being partners with Israel in the “war of genocide” in┬аGaza.
The latest Israeli attacks come a day after┬аUN secretary-general Antonio Guterres┬аsaid he raised his concerns with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about draft Israeli legislation that would stop UNRWA┬аworking in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
UN Secretary General Ant├│nio Guterres says banning UNRWA would be ‘a catastrophe in what is already an unmitigated disaster.’ He’s written to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an attempt to dissuade him from drafting legislation that would seek to block UNRWA operations in Israel.
In one Israeli strike overnight on a house in Shejaia, a suburb of┬аGaza┬аCity, nine people of the same family were killed, medics said.┬аOthers were┬аkilled┬аovernight in┬аcentral areas of the┬аGaza┬аStrip.
Israel began its offensive against Hamas in┬аGaza┬аafter fighters from the Palestinian militant group attacked southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
Nearly 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive, the┬аGaza Health Ministry says. Most of┬аGaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced and much of the enclave has been laid to waste.
