Israeli forces step up attack on northern Gaza Strip, killing 55 in enclave | News on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Twelve bodies were recovered from Jabalia refugee camp, where the Israeli army launched a ground offensive 11 days ago.

Dozens of Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip, including in Jabalia in the north, where the Israeli military launched an offensive 11 days ago.

At least 55 people have been killed in the enclave in the last 24 hours, the Gaza Strip Health Ministry said on Tuesday. At least twelve bodies have been recovered after an Israeli attack near al-Faluja in the besieged Jabalia refugee camp.

Mahmoud Basal, spokesman for the Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza, said seven of those killed belonged to the al-Sayed family. He said their bodies were buried in their family home.

The other five bodies were recovered from the neighborhood’s streets, Basal said.

In a separate incident, Israeli forces attacked the Birkat Abu Rashid area of ​​the camp, killing at least three people and wounding several others, according to Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif, who reported from the scene.

After the airstrike, rescuers were seen frantically helping survivors escape a badly damaged building, with one man carrying an injured child.

Residents told Al Jazeera that troops in al-Faluja were planting barrels filled with explosives in the ground to destroy buildings and homes.

“Unimaginable loss”

Over the past year, Israeli troops have repeatedly returned to the Jabalia refugee camp, which has a history dating back to the 1948 war over the creation of Israel.

The attack on Jabalia follows Israeli orders to completely evacuate the northern Gaza Strip, including Gaza City. The United Nations estimates that an estimated 400,000 Palestinians still live in the north.

The United Nations human rights office said Tuesday that the Israeli military appeared to be “completely cutting off northern Gaza from the rest of the Gaza Strip.”

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said: “Amid the ongoing intense hostilities and evacuation orders in northern Gaza, families are facing unimaginable fear, loss of loved ones, confusion and exhaustion.” People must be able to stay safe escape without being exposed to further danger.”

Fight somewhere else

An Israeli airstrike destroyed several houses on al-Sinaa Street, west of Gaza City, early Tuesday, according to Civil Defense. Two bodies were recovered.

The search is continuing for twelve other people who were probably in the houses at the time, it said.

Meanwhile, in central Gaza, four Palestinians were killed when a home belonging to the al-Salhi family was attacked in Nuseirat camp, the Civil Defense said.

In the southern Gaza Strip, at least ten people from one family were killed and many more injured after an Israeli airstrike on a house in Bani Suheila in eastern Khan Younis.

“The killing machine hasn’t stopped at all. Heavy artillery and air strikes were carried out throughout the night in the southern part of the Gaza Strip,” said Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.

“They thought they were protected and safe, but not anymore. “This has added to the shattered sense of security of everyone in eastern Khan Younis,” Mahmoud said.

In another attack, six people from a family in al-Fukhari district of Khan Younis were killed.

The Health Ministry said on Tuesday that at least 42,289 people have been killed and 98,684 injured in Israeli strikes in Gaza since October 2023.