Dozens of Palestinians have been reported killed in strikes on northern Gaza over the past 24 hours, amid what the Israeli military says are operations aimed at stopping Hamas regrouping.
A statement from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Saturday said that in the Jabalya area of northern Gaza, troops “eliminated several terrorists in close-quarters encounters.”
Remember: Jabalya has seen sustained strikes for much of this month after the Israeli military ordered the evacuation of large swathes of northern Gaza.
The Health Ministry in Gaza meanwhile said Saturday that Israeli forces were intensifying the “targeting of the health system in the northern Gaza Strip, by besieging and directly targeting the Indonesian Hospital, Kamal Adwan Hospital, and Al-Awda Hospital during the past hours.”
Munir Al-Barash, Director of the Gaza Health Ministry, said he had learned that two people in the intensive care unit at the Indonesian Hospital had passed away due to the power outage there.
The Hamas-run Government Media Office in Gaza reported late Friday that 33 people had been killed, including 21 women, in one strike in the north of the Strip. Gaza Civil Defense reported casualties in a several other strikes.
Communications with the northern Gaza Strip are very difficult, but CNN reached one Palestinian, Ismail Zaida, early Saturday. He said there had been “violent air strikes in the Saftawi area” of Jabalya. “We hear ambulances arriving and now, huge explosions.”
Civilians flee: The IDF has issued a series of evacuation orders for northern Gaza this month with CNN video on Friday showing civilians leaving parts of Jabalya and heading towards Gaza City.
CNN reported a week ago that the IDF had launched a wide-scale operation following intelligence that it said showed attempts by Hamas to “rebuild its operational capabilities in the area.”
