Israel kills at least 50 in Gaza as its forces encircle northern Jabalia

CAIRO - Israeli military strikes killed at least 50 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip as Israeli forces tightened their squeeze around Jabalia in the north of the enclave on Oct 15, amid fierce battles with Hamas-led fighters.

Palestinian health officials said at least 17 people were killed by Israeli fire near Al-Falouja in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza’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 Oct 15, an Israeli air strike destroyed three houses in the Sabra suburb of Gaza City, and the local civil emergency service said it 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.

Eight others were killed when a house was struck in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza.

The Gaza Health Ministry said one doctor was killed when he tried to help the people injured by Israeli strikes in Al-Falouja in Jabalia. It added that several medics were wounded when their ambulance came under Israeli fire in the northern and southern Gaza Strip.

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 heavy bombardment in the early months of the year-long war.

The operation has raised concerns among Palestinians and UN agencies that Israel wants to clear residents from the north of the crowded enclave, a charge it has denied. Residents said Israeli forces destroyed dozens of houses in the past 10 days.

On Oct 15, the Israeli military said troops had killed dozens of fighters in the Jabalia area over the past day, including a unit that fired an anti-tank missile at them.

The UN human rights office said on Oct 15 that the Israeli military appeared to be “cutting off north Gaza completely from the rest of the Gaza Strip”.

“Gaza families are facing unimaginable fear, loss of loved ones, confusion and exhaustion. People must be able to flee safely, without facing further danger,” said Mr Adrian Zimmerman, ICRC Gaza head of sub-delegation.

The Israeli military’s humanitarian unit, Cogat, which oversees aid and commercial shipments to Gaza, on Oct 15 said the Jabalia operations were targeting terrorist infrastructure and operatives embedded inside civilian areas. It said it was facilitating humanitarian and in particular medical aid to residents.

Hamas denies it embeds its operatives among civilians.

The Israeli military has encircled the Jabalia camp and sent tanks into nearby Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, 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 Gaza. Palestinian and UN officials say there was no place safe in Gaza.

Hamas’ armed wing said fighters were engaged in fierce battles with Israeli forces in and around Jabalia.

The Gaza Health Ministry said the army ordered the three hospitals operating there to evacuate, but medical staff said they were determined to continue their services.

Cogat said in recent days it had facilitated the transfer of 33 patients, medical staff and accompanying personnel from the Kamal Adwan Hospital in the north to functioning facilities elsewhere in Gaza. It said it has also provided 68,650 litres of fuel to hospitals and coordinated the delivery of 800 blood transfusion units.

Mr Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, said Israel was trying to give a misleading impression and that its forces had been preventing ambulance and civil emergency teams from recovering the bodies of dozens of people from the streets.

Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of the three hospitals in northern Gaza, said they were facing serious shortages of food, medication and fuel, which could soon impact patients in their facilities.

“There is a stark shortage of consumables and supplies began to run out. Milk is running out, and everything available is depleting, and we could face a humanitarian disaster that would impact those in the maternity and the neonatal units,” said Dr Abu Safiya in a video appeal to international relief and human rights groups.

On Oct 14, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the level of civilian casualties in northern Gaza.

The northern part of Gaza is home to well over half the territory’s 2.3 million people and hundreds of thousands of residents were forced to flee their homes amid 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 the militant group’s attack on Israel on Oct 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in the offensive so far, according to Gaza’s health authorities. REUTERS