Thousands of people are trapped in Gaza’s Jabilia camp as Israeli forces attack the area, Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) said on Friday, a week after Israel launched an offensive there which it says is aimed at stopping Hamas regrouping.
At least 20 Palestinians were killed and dozens more were wounded late on Friday by Israeli strikes in Jabilia, which also damaged four nearby homes, medics said. The death toll is likely to rise, they added.
Israeli military strikes killed at least 61 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Friday, the medics added. Nearly half of the fatalities, including the 20 killed at the home, occurred in Jabilia, the northern district which is the largest of Gaza's historic refugee camps.
The Israeli military says it has killed dozens of militants in Jabilia, though it remains unclear how many of the dead were civilians rather than fighters.
Thousands trapped in Gaza’s Jabilia camp as Israeli forces escalate deadly attacks
Israel must stop firing on UN peacekeepers and listen to concerns of international community - Harris
Why should Irish troops and their peacekeeping colleagues stay in Lebanon as war builds?
I don’t think sanctions on Israel are imminent, but things can change quickly in times of war
“Nobody is allowed to get in or out; anyone who tries is getting shot,” MSF project coordinator Sarah Vuylsteke said on X.
Five MSF staff were trapped in Jabilia, she said.
“I don't know what to do; at any moment we could die. People are starving. I am afraid to stay, and I am also afraid to leave,” she quoted Haydar, an MSF driver, as saying.
At least 15 of the fatalities in Jabilia since dawn were due to Israeli strikes targeting various areas, including a school sheltering displaced individuals, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa said, citing medical sources.
Gaza’s civil defence said dozens were wounded by Israeli quadcopter drone fire at the same school.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has previously said Gaza’s militants use such shelters for cover. Hamas has denied this.
The Israeli military has sent troops into the nearby towns of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya as well as Jabilia. Hamas has said it will keep fighting Israeli forces.
Palestinian health officials have reported at least 130 deaths in the operation so far, while the military has told residents to evacuate areas where the UN estimates more than 400,000 people are trapped.
UN officials expressed concern that the ongoing Israeli offensive and evacuation orders in northern Gaza could disrupt the second phase of its polio vaccination campaign set to begin next week.
Healthcare officials have reported that dozens of facilities in Gaza are under evacuation orders from the Israeli military, complicating humanitarian efforts amid the conflict.
Aid groups carried out an initial round of vaccinations last month after a baby was partially paralysed by the type two polio virus in August, in the first such case in the territory in 25 years. – Reuters