The Israeli military has ordered residents to evacuate their homes and head to safe areas.
Cairo: At least 19 Palestinians were killed in Israeli military attacks on Gaza overnight, medics said on Saturday, as troops continued to push deeper into the Jabalia area, where international relief agencies say thousands are trapped.
Residents said Israeli forces continued to bombard Jabalia, in the north of the territory and the largest of the territory’s historic refugee camps, from the air and the ground.
There was no new Israeli comment, but the army said in the past that forces operating in Jabalia and surrounding areas had killed dozens of militants, seized weapons and destroyed military infrastructure.
The operation in the area began a week ago and the army said it was aimed at fighting against Hamas militants and preventing Hamas from regrouping.
Palestinian health officials put the number of people killed in Jabalia last week at about 150.
On Friday, Israeli strikes hit four houses in Jabalia, killing about 20 people and wounding dozens, medics said. The Israeli army has sent troops to Jabalia as well as the nearby towns of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya and ordered residents to evacuate their homes and move to safer areas in the south of the enclave.
Palestinian and UN officials say there are no safe zones in Gaza. They have also expressed concern over severe shortages of food, fuel and medical supplies in northern Gaza and said there is a risk of famine.
The health ministry said Israel’s threat to forcefully evacuate three hospitals it operates there put the safety of patients and medical staff at risk.
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza aimed at eliminating the Hamas group since it began a year ago has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians and left the region in ruins, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The war began after a Hamas-led attack on southern Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, killed 1,200 people and took about 250 hostage, according to Israeli figures.
In a statement on Saturday, Hamas said Israel’s “massacre against civilians” was aimed at punishing residents of Jabalia for refusing to leave their homes. It also said it was a sign of Israel’s military failure to defeat the group.
Israel has denied targeting civilians.
The armed wing of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and smaller other factions said their fighters attacked Israeli forces in Jabalia and nearby areas with anti-tank rockets and mortar fire.
Polio vaccination
The Israeli offensive and evacuation orders in northern Gaza could affect the second phase of a polio vaccination campaign scheduled to begin next week, UN officials said on Friday.
The territory’s health ministry announced on Saturday that the campaign would begin on Monday in central Gaza Strip areas and last for three days before moving to other areas.
Aid groups carried out an initial round of vaccinations last month after a child was partially paralysed by type 2 poliovirus in August, the first such case in the territory in 25 years.
As with the first phase, humanitarian breaks in fighting in Gaza are planned so that hundreds of thousands of children can be reached.
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