Five are killed in Rafah by airstrikes, while Israeli troops advance into Jabalia

Israeli airstrikes killed at least five people in the southern city of Rafah on Tuesday, while Israeli forces advanced farther into the Jabalia camp in northern Gaza on Tuesday, destroying residential areas with tank and air bombardments, according to locals.

This month, hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes as a result of simultaneous Israeli attacks on the northern and southern borders of the Gaza Strip. The delivery of supplies has also been severely curtailed, increasing the possibility of hunger.

In a military operation that started nearly two weeks ago, the Israeli army reportedly employed bulldozers to demolish shops and property near the local market in Jabalia, a large refugee camp established for displaced inhabitants 75 years ago.

Israel declared that it had returned to the camp, where it had asserted it had destroyed Hamas several months prior, in order to stop the terrorist organization in charge of Gaza from reestablishing its military presence there.

Rescue workers have not been able to access the dozens of bodies that are still trapped in the debris of houses and on the roadways in Jabalia, according to the health authorities and Gaza Civil Emergency Service.

“The world is demanding more food to enter Gaza, Israel is demolishing the camp on the heads of the Palestinians, and the bombardment never ceases. “We want to spare lives, not extra food,” declared Jabalia resident Abu El-Nasser, who made his way to Gaza City, which is nearby.

The Gaza Health Ministry reports that in the eight months of the conflict, over 35,000 Palestinians have lost their lives. It claims that at least 10,000 more people are unaccounted for and might be buried beneath demolished structures.

After militants from Hamas broke into southern Israel on October 7, according to Israeli figures, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping over 250 more, Israel is attempting to destroy the organization.

There is a serious humanitarian catastrophe as a result of the war’s devastation of the dense coastal enclave, which has destroyed homes, schools, and hospitals.

The Israeli Defense Forces reported that, in a summary of its military operations for the previous day, they had destroyed “roughly 70 terror targets” in the Gaza Strip, including military complexes, depots and storage facilities for weapons, missile launchers, and observation posts.

Israeli tanks, according to locals and medical authorities, have been besieging the Al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia for the third day. Medics also reported that Israeli tanks had begun fire on the nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya town.

Overnight, at least three individuals were murdered in the north during an airstrike on a home in Jabalia. Airstrikes in the south claimed the lives of at least five individuals, including three children in a home in Rafah and three children in a residence in Khan Younis.
Residents living east of Khan Younis reported that Israeli troops had started a minor incursion on the eastern boundary of the area, bulldozing past the border barrier, and they were leaving Khuzaa town.

“Everywhere there is bombing, people are fleeing in fear. As he and his family were departing, one Khuzaa resident spoke with Reuters over the phone and described the incursion as unexpected.

Israel is continuing its operations in the southern Gazan enclave of Rafah, where over half of the 2.3 million residents of the territory have taken up residence after being driven from places to the north.

Despite international calls for caution due to concerns over civilian losses, UNRWA, the primary United Nations agency in Gaza, reported on Monday that more than 800,000 people have left since Israel started attacking the border city at the beginning of the month.

Israel has promised to carry out the Rafah attack in order to eliminate what it claims are the last four battalions of Hamas fighters that are holed up there.

Although no injuries were recorded, the Israeli military announced that it had “identified a terrorist shooting mortar shells at IDF troops” on the previous day. It claimed to have destroyed the enemy with an airstrike and to have found missiles and other military hardware nearby.