Israel sends more troops into north Gaza, deepens raid
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Palestinians carrying their belongings as they flee the northern Gaza Strip on Oct 12.
PHOTO: AFP
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CAIRO – The Israeli military said on Oct 18 it sent another army unit to support its forces operating in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza's eight historic refugee camps, where residents said tanks blew up roads and houses as they thrust further into the territory.
Residents of Jabalia in northern Gaza said Israeli tanks had reached the heart of the camp, using heavy air and ground fire, after pushing through suburbs and residential districts.
They added that the Israeli army was destroying dozens of houses on a daily basis, sometimes from the air and the ground and by placing bombs in buildings then detonating them remotely.
The Israeli military said its forces, which have been operating in Jabalia for the past two weeks, killed dozens of militants in close-quarters combat on Oct 17 and carried out aerial strikes and dismantled military infrastructure.
The escalation of Israel's Jabalia operation came a day after it said it had killed the country's No. 1 enemy, Yahya Sinwar
Israeli military says its operation in Jabalia is intended to stop Hamas fighters from regrouping for more attacks.
Residents said Israeli forces had effectively isolated the far northern Gazan towns of Beit Hanoun, Jabalia and Beit Lahiya from Gaza City, blocking movement except for those families heeding evacuation orders and leaving the three towns.
On Oct 18, health officials appealed for fuel, medical supplies and food to be sent immediately to three northern Gaza hospitals overwhelmed by the number of patients and injuries.
At the Kamal Adwan Hospital, medics had to replace children in intensive care with more critical cases of adults badly wounded by Israeli air strikes on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Jabalia on Oct 17.
The attack killed 28 people. Israel said it had targeted militants holed up in the complex.
Kamal Adwan’s director, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, said in a video sent to the media that the children had been moved to another division inside the facility, where they were being well taken care of.
Israel said it sent in around 30 truck-loads of aid into northern Gaza on Oct 18, including food, water, medical supplies and shelter equipment.
“We’re fighting Hamas; we’re not fighting the people of Gaza,” military spokesman Nadav Shoshani told journalists in an online briefing.
Hamas and health officials, however, say that the aid has not been reaching the worst affected areas, including Jabalia, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya.
Mr Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, said on X that the attack on the school was the third on an UNRWA facility this week, adding the agency had now lost a total of 231 team members in the past year of fighting.
Dr Abu Safiya said 300 medical staff, who had been working for 14 days, were becoming too exhausted, especially at the failure of the hospital to provide them with adequate food as all supplies were depleting.
Doctors at the Kamal Adwan, Al-Awda and Indonesian hospitals have refused to leave their patients despite evacuation orders issued by the Israeli military at the start of its Jabalia push.
Northern Gaza, which had been home to well over half the territory's 2.3 million people, was bombed to rubble in the first phase of Israel's assault on the territory a year ago.
Israel began its military campaign after the Oct 7 attacks on southern Israel by Hamas-led fighters
More than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's offensive so far, according to Gaza's health authorities. REUTERS
