Gaza/Jerusalem - A recent surge in hostilities in the Gaza Strip has led to significant casualties and widespread devastation, with Palestinian health officials reporting over 50 Palestinian fatalities due to Israeli airstrikes targeting a densely populated refugee camp in North Gaza on Tuesday. Simultaneously, Israeli ground forces are engaged in fierce combat with Hamas militants who are entrenched in an extensive tunnel network.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected international appeals to cease hostilities, which would facilitate the delivery of emergency aid to civilians grappling with severe shortages of essential supplies, such as food, medicine, drinking water, and fuel.
The United Nations and other aid agencies have warned of a looming public health crisis in Gaza. Hospitals are overwhelmed by the increasing number of casualties as electrical power dwindles. The situation is dire, with civilians bearing the brunt of the conflict.
Reports from Gaza's Indonesian Hospital indicate that more than 50 Palestinians lost their lives, and around 150 others sustained injuries as a result of heavy aerial bombardments on residential areas in the heart of the Jabalia refugee camp in urbanized North Gaza. The Israeli military has not yet provided a response, but they have accused Hamas of using civilian structures as cover for their fighters and weapons, which Hamas denies.
Footage obtained by Reuters reveals widespread destruction, with deep craters from bomb impacts and severely damaged multi-story buildings. Desperate family members are searching through piles of rubble with their hands in a bid to locate loved ones, whether alive or deceased.
Medics have lined up the deceased, wrapped in white cloths, outside the hospital, located in the neighboring town of Beit Lahiya. Simultaneously, the injured, including children, are rushed inside the facility for treatment amid chaotic scenes.
In a statement, Hamas claimed that there were 400 dead and wounded in Jabalia, which is situated on the outskirts of Gaza City and represents the primary battleground for the ongoing combat between entrenched Hamas militants and Israeli troops and tanks. Jabalia is home to families who are refugees from conflicts with Israel dating back to 1948. It's important to note that Reuters has not independently verified these casualty figures.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in a statement issued on Tuesday, emphasized the imperative need to protect civilians caught in the crossfire and called for all parties to adhere to international humanitarian law and act with proportionality and precaution.
At the epicenter of this conflict are the tunnels beneath Gaza, which Israel is determined to neutralize as part of its ground offensive. This offensive follows three weeks of aerial bombardment in response to a deadly attack by Hamas in southern Israel on October 7. Israel contends that some of the 240 hostages taken by Hamas during that attack are held in the tunnel complex, further complicating the Israeli military's operation in this urban setting.
According to an update from the Israeli military, they have targeted approximately 300 sites in the past day. These targets include missile and rocket launch posts located near tunnel entrances, as well as underground Hamas military facilities. Militants have responded with anti-tank missiles and machine gun fire, resulting in casualties among the militants, although the exact number is unspecified.
Hamas has reported intense battles with Israeli ground forces, claiming that Israeli soldiers are suffering losses. Two Israeli soldiers were confirmed to have lost their lives in the northern Gaza combat zone.
Israeli military authorities have repeatedly urged civilians in North Gaza to evacuate southward to avoid the brunt of their armored assault. While hundreds of thousands have heeded this call, some residents have chosen to remain, fearing permanent displacement and the threat of Israeli airstrikes that have also struck the southern parts of Gaza.
According to Gaza's health authorities, Israeli attacks since October 7 have resulted in 8,525 casualties, including 3,542 children. U.N. officials report that over 1.4 million civilians out of Gaza's total population of approximately 2.3 million have been displaced.
In contrast, during the cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7, Israel alleges that about 1,400 individuals, predominantly civilians, lost their lives. Reuters has been unable to independently verify the reported casualty figures.
Hamas's military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, has stated that its fighters engaged Israeli forces in the southern part of Gaza, launching rockets at four Israeli vehicles. Subsequently, they reported that their fighters ambushed Israeli armored vehicles in the central Jur al-Dik area, destroying three of them with al Yassin 105mm shells before safely retreating to avoid Israeli mortar fire. The Israeli military has not issued an immediate response to Hamas's accounts.
Humanitarian aid trucks are still struggling to reach Gaza, with fewer vehicles arriving than needed, according to U.N. officials. Aid is slowly entering Gaza from Egypt via the Rafah crossing, the primary route that bypasses Israel. However, the distribution of aid within Gaza is hindered by the lack of fuel, which Israel believes could be used by Hamas for military purposes. Additionally, looting, blocked streets filled with rubble from Israeli shelling, and civilian displacement further complicate the situation.
Meanwhile, air raid sirens sounded near the Israeli resort city of Eilat on the Red Sea, and the Israeli military announced that they downed an approaching "aerial target."
In a significant development, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels declared that they had launched a "large number" of ballistic missiles and drones in support of Palestinian militants towards Israel. This marked their third operation targeting Israel, signifying a widening specter of spillover from the conflict in Gaza.