Israeli airstrikes targeted Jabalia, Gaza’s largest refugee camp, for the second time in two days on Wednesday. As rescuers searched through the rubble and images showed smoke billowing above the camp, there was no immediate confirmation of the number of casualties.
In Tuesday’s attack, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said more than 50 people were killed. Israel claimed to have killed a Hamas commander in the strike.
The densely populated camp to the north of the besieged enclave covers an area of 1.4 square kilometers (0.5 square miles). According to the United Nations, there are some 116,000 registered refugees in the camp.
UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths denounced the Jabalia strike after a two-day visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
“This is just the latest atrocity to hit the people of Gaza, where the fighting has entered an even more terrifying phase, with increasingly dire humanitarian consequences,” Griffiths said in a statement.
He said “the world seems unable or unwilling to act,” adding: “This cannot continue. We need radical change.
Griffiths said: “We need the warring parties to agree to pauses in the fighting” so that desperately needed aid can reach the Palestinian territory of 2.3 million people.
The Israeli military later issued a statement saying the country’s warplanes had struck a Hamas command and control compound in Jabalia “based on specific intelligence,” killing the head of the Hamas anti-tank missile unit. Islamist group, Muhammad A’sar.
“Hamas deliberately builds its terrorist infrastructure under, around and inside civilian buildings, intentionally endangering civilians in Gaza,” the statement said.
At least 8,796 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since October 7. More than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel.