Israel bombs Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza

Jerusalem
CNN
—

An Israeli raid targeting a Hamas leader in the densely populated Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip caused catastrophic damage and killed a large number of people, according to eyewitnesses and paramedics in the Strip.

Mohamed Ibrahim, an eyewitness, told CNN: “I was waiting in line to buy bread when suddenly seven to eight missiles fell without any prior warning.”

He said: “There were seven to eight huge holes in the ground, full of dead people, and body parts everywhere.” “It felt like the end of the world.”

Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht, of the Israel Defense Forces, told CNN that the airstrike was targeting a Hamas leader, whom he accused of “hiding, as they do, behind civilians.” Hecht also said that civilian deaths are “the tragedy of war.”

But Hamas strongly denied the presence of one of its leaders in the camp, Hazem Qassem, the movement’s spokesman said in a statement on Tuesday.

In the Indonesian Hospital, which is the closest large medical facility to Jabalia, video clips showed a long row of bodies lying on the hospital floor, in addition to large numbers of wounded, including children, while doctors rushed to treat their injuries. Many injured people were seen receiving treatment on the ground due to overcrowding in the hospital. Hospital director Dr. Atef Al-Kalhout estimated the number of people killed in the explosion at dozens.

Another doctor, Muhammad Al-Ran, said: “What you see is a scene that no one can imagine: wounded martyrs, and hundreds of charred corpses.” “All we can do is continue to receive them. Most of the injuries are caused by explosives, head injuries and amputations.”

According to the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry in Gaza, twenty homes were “completely destroyed” in the bombing. Pictures of the site showed several large holes in the ground, surrounded by the rubble of destroyed and damaged buildings.

Hecht, the IDF spokesman, said the area is a “very complex battlefield” as “it is possible that there is infrastructure and tunnels there.”

Today, Tuesday, Egypt condemned “in the strongest terms” what it described as “the inhumane Israeli targeting of the residential area in the Jabalia camp,” the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in a statement, and accused Israel of violating international law.

The ministry said that Egypt considered this a new flagrant violation by the Israeli forces of the provisions of international law and international humanitarian law.

This story is evolving and being updated.