For a second day in a row, Israeli airstrikes hit a populated refugee camp in northern Gaza.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said that a second Israeli bombing raid Wednesday killed and wounded “dozens,” at the biggest refugee camp in Gaza, CBS News reported.
Israel acknowledged the first strikes Tuesday saying that they were targeting a top Hamas commander, CBS News reported.
“Yesterday the Israeli Air Force successfully targeted Ibrahim Bihari, a senior Hamas commander in Jabaliya, together with dozens of other Hamas terrorists,” IDF said.
The death toll from the attack is not immediately known, The Associated Press reported. Dr. Atef Al-Kahlot at a hospital in the area said hundreds were killed or wounded.
Videos obtained by the New York Times show a populated area of Gaza “decimated” by the airstrike from Israel. There are over 116,000 people registered at the Jabaliya refugee camp as of 2023. It is located in northern Gaza.
“Seven detainees were killed in the Jabalia massacre yesterday, including three holders of foreign passports,” the Hamas military wing said in a statement Wednesday per the French news agency Agence France-Presse according to CBS News.
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The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that a blast in the Jabalya refugee camps was from an airstrike Wednesday, according to CNN. It was the second blast to the area in two days.
“Earlier today, based on precise intelligence, IDF fighter jets struck a Hamas command and control complex in Jabaliya. We can confirm that Hamas terrorists were eliminated in the strike. Hamas deliberately builds its terror infrastructure under, around and within civilian buildings, intentionally endangering Gazan civilians. The IDF has been urging Gazans in this neighborhood to evacuate as part of its efforts to mitigate harm to civilians. The IDF continues to call on all residents of northern Gaza and Gaza City to evacuate southwards to a safer area,” IDF confirmed in a statement obtained by CNN.
The first strike on Tuesday left catastrophic damage, CNN reported.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “is appalled over the escalating violence in Gaza,” according to the AP. This included the killings of Palestinians by Israeli airstrikes in Jabaliya, according to Guterres’ spokesman.
“He condemns in the strongest terms, any killings of civilians,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Wednesday, according to the AP.
“The secretary-general reiterates that all parties must abide by international law, international humanitarian law including the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution.”