At least 50 die as Israel bombs Gaza camp

GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories: As Israel rained bombs on Gaza in its war with Hamas on Tuesday, huge explosions ripped through a crowded Palestinian refugee camp, killing dozens and leaving two giant craters in the densely populated area. 

Wails filled the dusty air as volunteers clawed through the concrete blocks and twisted metal in a desperate search for survivors and bodies, with AFP video footage showing at least 47 corpses being recovered. Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry reported an initial toll of more than 50 dead, 150 wounded and dozens buried under the rubble, and condemned what it called “a heinous Israeli massacre” at the Jabalia camp.

Jabalia is located in the territory’s north outside Gaza City, an area where ground battles have raged nearby and Israel has told Palestinians to flee. Israel’s military confirmed striking Gaza’s Jabaliya refugee camp saying the operation succeeded in killing a key Hamas commander linked to the October 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group. “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 military said, referring to the targeting of Ibrahim Biari, the commander of Hamas’ Central Jabaliya Battalion.

One refugee camp resident, Ragheb Aqal, 41, likened the explosion to “an earthquake” and spoke of his horror at seeing “homes buried under the rubble and body parts and martyrs and wounded in huge numbers”.

The carnage came amid international warnings about the spiralling bloodshed and mounting humanitarian crisis in Gaza, on a day Israeli troops and Hamas militants had engaged in “fierce battles” in the north. Israel reported two of its soldiers were killed inside Gaza. Footage from the Israeli military showed tanks and armoured bulldozers churning up bomb-scarred dirt tracks and troops searching shattered buildings for Hamas militants and the 240 hostages still missing. The army said its forces were “engaged in fierce battles with Hamas terrorists deep inside the Gaza Strip,” killing dozens of militants. Hamas also released footage of battles within Gaza, including what it said was a military vehicle on fire.

Israel said it had struck 300 targets in the fourth night of land operations in Gaza, coming under Hamas anti-tank and machine-gun fire. Warplanes kept up a relentless barrage of strikes on Gaza, where the Hamas-run health ministry said — before the Jabalia blasts — that 8,525 people had died, including over 3,500 children.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed growing calls for a ceasefire with the Hamas group he has vowed to destroy while also seeking to liberate at least 240 hostages.

Ahmed al-Kahlout, a Gazan living near an Orthodox church cultural centre destroyed in another strike, voiced the growing desperation inside the war-torn, crowded and besieged coastal territory. “We want to live like any other people in this world, to live quietly,” he said. “We don’t know what to do. The least they can do is give us a truce, give us three hours, a temporary truce or a ceasefire.” The humanitarian toll has sparked global concern, with aid groups and the United Nations warning time is running out for many of the territory’s 2.4 million people denied access to food, water, fuel and medicine. The United Nations chief said he was “deeply alarmed by the intensification of the conflict between Israel and Hamas” as fierce fighting raged in Gaza. The escalation includes “ground operations by the Israel Defense Forces accompanied by intense air strikes, and the continued rocket fire towards Israel from Gaza,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement. “Civilians have borne the brunt of the current fighting from the outset,” he said.

“I repeat my utter condemnation of the acts of terror perpetrated by Hamas on 7 October. There is never any justification for the killing, injuring and abduction of civilians. I appeal for the immediate and unconditional release of those civilians held hostage by Hamas.

“I condemn the killing of civilians in Gaza and I am dismayed by reports that two-thirds of those who have been killed are women and children.”

Guterres also underlined his fears “about the risk of a dangerous escalation beyond Gaza.”

“Gaza has become a graveyard for thousands of children. It’s a living hell for everyone else,” said children’s aid agency UNICEF, urging an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”. Surgeons are conducting amputations on hospital floors without anaesthetic, and children are forced to drink salty water, said Jean-Francois Corty, vice-president of Medecins du Monde, which has 20 staff on the ground.

At a funeral in southern Gaza, tearful mourners cradled the bodies of relatives wrapped in white shrouds before burying them with their bare hands.

“We ask the world to show sympathy for the children to stop these massacres,” Yusef Hijazi, the grandfather of one victim, told AFP.

As even Israel’s staunchest allies voiced concern about the humanitarian crisis, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA said there was not nearly enough aid to meet the “unprecedented” needs.

“When an eight-year-old tells you that she doesn’t want to die, it’s hard not to feel helpless,” said UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths.

Hisham Adwan, Gaza director of the Rafah crossing with Egypt where some aid has been allowed in, said 36 trucks had been waiting there since the previous day. “I feel that it’s extremely slow and there’s disruption to UNRWA’s work, and we don’t know why,” he said.

Israel said it was inspecting cargo to make sure weapons are not being smuggled in, and monitoring to guarantee Hamas does not seize the supplies.

Iran said it was “natural” for Tehran-backed groups to attack Israel in light of its war on Hamas, warning of a wider spillover if no ceasefire is reached. The remarks were made by Iran’s top diplomat Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Qatar’s capital Doha where he met with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and his Qatari counterpart to discuss a push for a diplomatic breakthrough. “It is natural that the resistance groups and movements do not remain silent against all these crimes” committed by Israel, Amir-Abdollahian said in remarks relayed by Iran’s foreign ministry. “They will not wait for anyone’s advice, therefore we need to use the last political opportunities to stop the war,” he said after talks with Sheikh Tamim, warning the situation could “get out of control”.

Meanwhile, in a sign that the conflict risked spiralling throughout the region, Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels fired drones and missiles towards Israel and vowed to keep up attacks. Israel’s army also said it had intercepted a missile fired from the Red Sea region. Israel’s military has struck targets in Syria and traded cross-border fire with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. Anis Abla, head of Lebanon’s Civil Defense Centre in Marjayoun, near the Israeli border, said they were completely unprepared for war. “Our equipment is very primitive and there is a shortage of all tools, such as fire suits and extinguisher cylinders,” he told AFP. Repeated attacks on American troops in the Middle East risk drawing the United States into a conflict with Iran even as Washington strives to prevent fighting between Israel and Hamas from spiralling into a regional war. The United States has blamed the spike in rocket and drone attacks — at least 14 in Iraq and nine in Syria since October 17 — on Iran-backed forces, and carried out strikes last week in Syria on sites the Pentagon said were linked to Tehran. Washington has massive firepower at its disposal but its military response to the attacks has so far been limited to those strikes — which the Pentagon said did not appear to have caused casualties — in a potential bid to head off a broader conflict.

“We are concerned about all elements of Iran’s threat network increasing their attacks in a way that risks miscalculation, or tipping the region into war,” a senior US defense official said Monday. “Everybody loses in a regional war, which is why we’re working through partners, with allies, working the phone lines, increasing posture to make clear our desire to prevent regional conflict,” the official said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a Senate hearing that the Palestinian Authority should retake control of the Gaza Strip from Hamas, with international players potentially filling a role in the interim.

“At some point, what would make the most sense would be for an effective and revitalized Palestinian Authority to have governance and ultimately security responsibility for Gaza,” Blinken told a Senate hearing. “Whether you can get there in one step is a big question that we have to look at. And if you can’t, then there are other temporary arrangements that may involve a number of other countries in the region,” he said. "It may involve international agencies that would help provide for both security and governance."

Blinken said that there cannot be a “reversion of the status quo with Hamas running Gaza.” “We also can’t have — and the Israelis start with this proposition themselves — Israel running or controlling Gaza,” Blinken said. While Blinken backed Israeli goals against Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long sought to sideline the Palestinian Authority and its president Mahmud Abbas, which exercises limited autonomy in parts of the occupied West Bank.

Hamas’s armed wing said it would release in the coming days some of the foreign hostages in its captivity, as it vowed to turn Gaza into a graveyard for Israel’s military. “We have informed intermediaries that we will release a certain number of foreigners in the next few days,” Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said in a televised address. Around 240 hostages are believed to be held by Hamas at the moment in Gaza. Five hostages have been released to date. “Gaza will be a graveyard and a quagmire for the enemy, its soldiers and its political and military leadership,” said Obeida.

Meanwhile, The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray warned the Israel-Hamas war has heightened the threat of attacks in the United States, raising particular concerns for the Jewish and Muslim communities, . “We assess that the actions of Hamas and its allies will serve as an inspiration the likes of which we haven´t seen since (the Islamic State group) launched its so-called caliphate several years ago,” Wray told the Senate Committee on Homeland Security. “It is a time to be concerned. We are in a dangerous period,” he said. “This is not a time for panic, but it is a time for vigilance.” The FBI chief said law enforcement “cannot and do not discount the possibility that Hamas or another foreign terrorist organization may exploit the current conflict to conduct attacks here on our own soil... That includes not just homegrown violent extremists inspired by a foreign terrorist organization but also domestic violent extremists targeting Jewish or Muslim communities.”