Israel’s bombardment of Jabalia seen as only the latest horror to befall the Palestinian refugee camp in Gaza

Palestinians examine the aftermath of an Israeli strike the previous night in the Jabalia refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. (AFP)
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Updated 19 December 2023
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Israel’s bombardment of Jabalia seen as only the latest horror to befall the Palestinian refugee camp in Gaza

  • At least 210 Palestinians were killed in recent IDF strikes on the refugee camp, drawing international condemnation
  • Since it was established by UNRWA in 1948, impoverished, overcrowded Jabalia has seen repeated raids and uprisings

LONDON: Israeli airstrikes on the largest and most densely populated of Gaza’s eight refugee camps, Jabalia, in recent days have killed at least 210 Palestinians, injured hundreds more, and left scores of people buried beneath the rubble of their homes.

Few of the families who live in the overcrowded camp, established by the UN northeast of Gaza City in 1948, have known anything but violence and privations of war. Now, under relentless Israeli bombardment, they have nowhere to run.

On Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, heavy bombardment by the Israel Defense Forces leveled entire housing blocks in the Jabalia camp, killing at least 195 Palestinians and injuring more than 777.

Israel said it was targeting Ibrahim Biari, a key Hamas commander, as part of the IDF’s mission to destroy the Palestinian militant group responsible for the Oct. 7 attacks on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,400 people and the abduction of 240 others.




Israel said it had attacked the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza. (Reuters)

In a briefing after the bombing, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari claimed Biari had played a key role in planning the Oct. 7 attacks using a network of tunnels burrowed beneath the refugee camp, which Israeli officials have dubbed the “metro.”

The two Israeli attacks on Jabalia were followed by a third major bombardment on Saturday, which killed at least 15 people. According to the health ministry of Gaza, which is governed by Hamas, the death toll in the beleaguered enclave since Oct. 7 has now surpassed 10,000. The actual figure, including both civilians and combatants, is believed to be much higher.

The attacks on Jabalia have sparked widespread condemnation, with Bahrain and Jordan expelling Israeli ambassadors and recalling their own.

Saudi Arabia denounced “in the strongest terms possible” the “inhumane targeting” of the refugee camp, while the UAE said the persistence of the “senseless bombing” will have difficult-to-remedy repercussions for the region.

Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general, said he was “appalled over the escalating violence in Gaza” and the “Israeli airstrikes in residential areas of the densely populated Jabalia refugee camp.”

US Senator Bernie Sanders described the situation as “one of the more horrific moments in modern history,” calling for the cessation of Israel’s “indiscriminate” killing of civilians in Gaza.

Othman Moqbel, head of the UK-based humanitarian aid agency Action for Humanity, told Arab News his NGO was “horrified and devastated by the news of the Jabalia massacre” in Gaza.




The attacks on Jabalia have sparked widespread condemnation. (AFP)

He said the death toll was expected to rise as rescue teams continued to search through the rubble for survivors and to retrieve bodies.

The 1.4 square-kilometer Jabalia refugee camp is home to 116,000 residents, according to the UN Relief and Works Agency, most of whom are descendants of the Palestinian families who fled their homes in the wake of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

Nadia Naser-Najjab, a senior lecturer in Palestine studies at the UK’s University of Exeter, told Arab News that amid the ongoing Gaza carnage, the residents of Jabalia were “in a state of helplessness, knowing that even if they attempt to flee to southern Gaza, they would be targeted and killed either on the way there or wherever they take shelter.”

Early in the conflict, Israel had urged Gazan civilians to leave their homes and seek sanctuary in the south of the Gaza Strip while the IDF conducted bombing raids and ground operations against Hamas in the north.

However, a recent analysis by BBC Verify found that Israel had bombed areas in Gaza where it had previously directed Palestinian civilians to evacuate for their safety.

Of course, displacement is not a new experience for Gazans, particularly those in Jabalia and other camps.

“These refugees were expelled from other parts of southern Palestine, such as the cities known today as Ashkelon and Sderot, during the Nakba,” Naser-Najjab said, referring to the mass displacement that followed the 1948 war.

“UNRWA built them eight camps in Gaza to home them and look after them.”

Naser-Najjab pointed out that the refugee issue should have been resolved through a political solution long ago, but the Oslo Accords of 1993 never addressed the matter. “Israel never agreed to solve the refugee problem in a just way,” she added.




At least 210 Palestinians were killed in the attack on the camp. (AFP)

“Instead, Israel suggested relocating a number of refugees to the territories under the Palestinian Authority’s administration.”

The 17-year blockade of the Gaza Strip only compounded the misery of the Jabalia camp population. Issues identified by UNRWA include high rates of unemployment, prolonged power cuts, contaminated water, extreme overcrowding, and a lack of construction materials to expand living spaces or repair the damage caused by previous Israeli attacks.

Jabalia has suffered repeated blows over the 75 years since its establishment, earning it the moniker “the camp of resilience,” Mohammed Solieman, a former history professor at the University of Leeds, in England, told Arab News.

The first Palestinian intifada, or uprising, against Israel began in the Jabalia camp in December 1987. It concluded with the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, which initiated direct talks between the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships.

FASTFACTS

• The Jabalia refugee camp was established by UNRWA in 1948.

• 116,000 people are crammed into the 1.4 sq-km camp.

• Israeli attacks on Jabalia have sparked strong Arab condemnation.

The camp also bore the brunt of an Israeli military offensive in March 2003, when tanks, armored vehicles, fighter jets, and helicopter gunships were deployed, according to media reports at the time. At least 11 Palestinians were reportedly killed and 140 wounded in that offensive.

Another large-scale IDF operation, which took place in September and October 2004, targeted the Jabalia camp as well as the town of Beit Hanoun. Fifteen homes were flattened, according to UNRWA, and international humanitarian staff were prevented from entering Gaza.

During the 2014 Gaza war, Israeli fighter jets bombed a school managed by UNRWA that had been sheltering displaced Palestinians, killing at least 20 and injuring more than 150, according to media reports citing Gaza health officials.




An overview of the Jabalia refugee camp and the destruction in the same camp after it was hit by an Israeli strike. (AFP/Maxar)

Jabalia had been “one of the most prominent educational areas in the Gaza Strip as it is home to UNRWA schools,” Solieman said. According to UNRWA’s figures, the camp has 26 schools, two health centers, and a public library.

Residents have again taken refuge in UNRWA schools, which have not been spared Israeli bombardment. On Saturday, the IDF struck the UNRWA-run Al-Fakhoura School, killing at least 15 people and injuring 54, according to local media.

Naser-Najjab said: “After every war on Gaza, the international community holds conferences and decides to rebuild the Strip.

“What is often offered is humanitarian aid, which is necessary and important, but no political solution.”

She urged the international community to “examine what is happening today within the historical context to find a right and just solution for Gaza’s population.”

Citing events in the early 1970s, when Israel demolished homes in Rafah under the pretext of widening roads, displacing 16,000 Palestinians, Naser-Najjab said she believed the Israelis intended to push the Palestinians of Gaza into Egypt’s Sinai.




Jabalia has suffered repeated blows over the 75 years since its establishment, earning it the moniker “the camp of resilience.” (AFP/Getty Images)

In 1971, many people from the Gaza Strip “were forced into Sinai, where Canada Camp was established,” she added.

After the signing of the Israel-Egypt peace treaty, known as the 1978 Camp David Accords, a number of families returned to Gaza from Sinai.

“This is the context of what is happening today. Israel is attempting to drive the people of Gaza into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, offering it as the sole solution to the humanitarian crisis.”

Israeli airstrikes since the launch of the IDF’s military campaign in Gaza have targeted several of the northern enclave’s eight refugee camps, including Al-Shati, Nuseirat, and Al-Maghazi, as well as Jabalia.

An overnight attack on Al-Maghazi camp on Saturday killed at least 47 people and injured more than 100, while many others remain trapped under rubble, according to local media.




Israel attacked the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza on Oct. 31, 2023. (Reuters)

Humanitarian aid agencies have repeatedly called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza to assist the civilian population, including those trapped in Jabalia.

Action for Humanity’s Moqbel said: “Nearly every day (for weeks now), we have called for a ceasefire, for increased humanitarian access, and for the recognition of international humanitarian law to protect the lives of innocents in this catastrophic conflict.

“We are advocating for the same actions now, and will continue to do so, until all lives are protected.”


Head of controversial US-backed Gaza aid group resigns

Updated 26 May 2025
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Head of controversial US-backed Gaza aid group resigns

  • Jake Wood says he accepted the role as head of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation "to help alleviate the suffering" in Gaza
  • But he is stepping down because “it had become clear that implementing the organization’s plan was not possible”

WASHINGTON: The head of a controversial US-backed group preparing to move aid into the Gaza Strip announced his abrupt resignation Sunday, adding fresh uncertainty over the effort’s future.
In a statement by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), executive director Jake Wood explained that he felt compelled to leave after determining the organization could not fulfil its mission in a way that adhered to “humanitarian principles.”
The foundation, which has been based in Geneva since February, has vowed to distribute some 300 million meals in its first 90 days of operation.
But the United Nations and traditional aid agencies have already said they will not cooperate with the group, amid accusations it is working with Israel.
The GHF has emerged as international pressure mounts on Israel over the conditions in Gaza, where it has pursued a military onslaught in response to the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas.
A more than two-month total blockade on the territory only began to ease in recent days, as agencies warned of growing starvation risks.
“Two months ago, I was approached about leading GHF’s efforts because of my experience in humanitarian operations” Wood said.
“Like many others around the world, I was horrified and heartbroken at the hunger crisis in Gaza and, as a humanitarian leader, I was compelled to do whatever I could to help alleviate the suffering.”
Wood stressed that he was “proud of the work I oversaw, including developing a pragmatic plan that could feed hungry people, address security concerns about diversion, and complement the work of longstanding NGOs in Gaza.”
But, he said, it had become “clear that it is not possible to implement this plan while also strictly adhering to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, which I will not abandon.”
Gaza’s health ministry said Sunday that at least 3,785 people had been killed in the territory since a ceasefire collapsed on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 53,939, mostly civilians.
Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Militants also took 251 hostages, 57 of whom remain in Gaza including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Wood called on Israel “to significantly expand the provision of aid into Gaza through all mechanisms” while also urging “all stakeholders to continue to explore innovative new methods for the delivery of aid, without delay, diversion, or discrimination.”

 


Israeli strike kills 20 in Gaza school housing displaced people, health authorities say

Updated 26 May 2025
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Israeli strike kills 20 in Gaza school housing displaced people, health authorities say

  • Medics said the dozens of casualties in the strike on the school, in the Daraj neighbourhood of Gaza City, included women and children

GAZA CITY: An Israeli strike on a school housing displaced people in Gaza killed at least 20 people and injured dozens, local authorities told Reuters early on Monday.
Israel stepped up its military operations in the enclave in early May, saying it is seeking to eliminate Hamas' military and governing capabilities and bring back the remaining hostages who were seized in October 2023.
Medics said the dozens of casualties in the strike on the school, in the Daraj neighbourhood of Gaza City, included women and children.
Some of the bodies were badly burned according to images circulating on social media, which Reuters could not immediately verify.
There was no immediate comment by the Israeli military.
Despite mounting international pressure that pushed Israel to lift a blockade on aid supplies in the face of warnings of looming famine, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that Israel would control the whole of Gaza.
Israel has taken control of around 77% of the enclave either through its ground forces or evacuation orders and bombardments that keep residents away from their homes, Gaza's media office said.
The Israeli campaign, triggered after Hamas Islamist militants attacked Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, has devastated Gaza and pushed nearly all of its two million residents from their homes.
The offensive has killed more than 53,000 people, many of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities.

 


Israel leader meets visiting US homeland security secretary: PM’s office

Updated 26 May 2025
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Israel leader meets visiting US homeland security secretary: PM’s office

  • The visit comes as Israel ramps up its offensive in the Gaza Strip

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with visiting US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in Jerusalem on Sunday, his office said.
US and Israeli media reported that Trump had sent Noem to Jerusalem following the killing of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington last week.
Noem was accompanied at her meeting with Netanyahu by US Ambassador Mike Huckabee, Netanyahu’s office said in a brief statement Sunday night.
The office added that during the meeting Noem “expressed her unreserved support for the prime minister and the State of Israel.”
The visit comes as Israel ramps up its offensive in the Gaza Strip in what it says is a renewed effort to destroy Hamas.
Earlier in the evening, Noem and Huckabee had visited the city’s Western Wall, where early celebrations for Monday’s “Jerusalem Day” holiday were taking place.
The holiday commemorates what Israel considers Jerusalem’s reunification under its authority after the city’s eastern sector was captured by its forces in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.


’Death is sometimes kinder’: Relatives recount Gaza strike that devastated family

Updated 26 May 2025
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’Death is sometimes kinder’: Relatives recount Gaza strike that devastated family

  • The paediatrician, with no means of transport, ran from the Nasser Hospital to the family house in the city of Khan Yunis, a relative told AFP, only to be met with every parent’s worst nightmare

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Alaa Al-Najjar was tending to wounded children at a hospital in the southern Gaza Strip when the news came through: the home where her own 10 children were staying had been bombed in an Israeli air strike.
The paediatrician, with no means of transport, ran from the Nasser Hospital to the family house in the city of Khan Yunis, a relative told AFP, only to be met with every parent’s worst nightmare.
“When she saw the charred bodies, she started screaming and crying,” said Ali Al-Najjar, the brother of Alaa’s husband.
Nine of her children were killed, their bodies burned beyond recognition, according to relatives.
The tenth, 10-year-old Adam, survived the strike but remains in critical condition, as does his father, Hamdi Al-Najjar, also a doctor, who was also at home when the strike hit.
Both are in intensive care at Nasser Hospital.
When the body of her daughter Nibal was pulled from the rubble, Alaa screamed her name, her brother-in-law recounted.
The following day, under a tent set up near the destroyed home, the well-respected paediatric specialist sat in stunned silence, still in shock.
Around her, women wept as the sounds of explosions echoed across the Palestinian territory, battered by more than a year and a half of war.

The air strike on Friday afternoon was carried out without warning, relatives said.
Asked about the incident, the Israeli military said it had “struck a number of suspects who were identified operating from a structure” near its troops, adding that claims of civilian harm were under review.
“I couldn’t recognize the children in the shrouds,” Alaa’s sister, Sahar Al-Najjar, said through tears. “Their features were gone.”
“It’s a huge loss. Alaa is broken,” said Mohammed, another close family member.
According to medical sources, Hamdi Al-Najjar underwent several operations at the Jordanian field hospital.
Doctors had to remove a large portion of his right lung and gave him 17 blood transfusions.
Adam had one hand amputated and suffers from severe burns across his body.
“I found my brother’s house like a broken biscuit, reduced to ruins, and my loved ones were underneath,” Ali Al-Najjar said, recalling how he dug through the rubble with his bare hands alongside paramedics to recover the children’s bodies.
Now, he dreads the moment his brother regains consciousness.
“I don’t know how to tell him. Should I tell him his children are dead? I buried them in two graves.”
“There is no safe place in Gaza,” he added with a weary sigh. “Death is sometimes kinder than this torture.”
 

 


Israel’s latest strikes in Gaza kill 38 people including a journalist and children

Updated 26 May 2025
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Israel’s latest strikes in Gaza kill 38 people including a journalist and children

  • Local journalist and several family members were killed by an airstrike that hit his house earlier on Sunday
  • Latest deaths resulted from Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the south, Jabalia in the north and Nuseirat in central Gaza Strip

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Israeli strikes over the past 24 hours killed at least 38 people in Gaza, including children, a local journalist and a senior rescue service official, local health officials said Sunday.

The latest deaths in the Israeli campaign resulted from separate Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the south, Jabalia in the north and Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip, medics said.
In Jabalia, they said local journalist Hassan Majdi Abu Warda and several family members were killed by an airstrike that hit his house earlier on Sunday.
Another airstrike in Nuseirat killed Ashraf Abu Nar, a senior official in the territory’s civil emergency service, and his wife in their house, medics added.
There was no immediate comment by the Israeli military.

The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said that Abu Warda’s death raised the number of Palestinian journalists killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023, to 220.
In a separate statement, the media office said Israeli forces were in control of 77 percent of the Gaza Strip, either through ground forces or evacuation orders and bombardment that keeps residents away from their homes.

The armed wing of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad said in separate statements on Sunday that fighters carried out several ambushes and attacks using bombs and anti-tank rockets against Israeli forces operating in several areas across Gaza.
On Friday the Israeli military said it had conducted more strikes in Gaza overnight, hitting 75 targets including weapons storage facilities and rocket launchers.
Further details emerged of the Palestinian doctor who lost nine of her 10 children in an Israeli strike on Friday.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said 3,785 people have been killed since Israel ended a ceasefire in March.

Israel launched an air and ground war in Gaza after Hamas militants’ cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 people by Israeli tallies with 251 hostages abducted into Gaza. Hamas has yet to release the 58 hostages it still holds.
The conflict has killed more than 53,900 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, and devastated the coastal strip. Aid groups say signs of severe malnutrition are widespread.
Israel also blocked all food, medicine and fuel from entering Gaza for 2 1/2 months before letting a trickle of aid enter last week, after experts’ warnings of famine and pressure from some of Israel’s top allies.
Israel is pursuing a new US-backed plan to control all aid to Gaza, but the American heading the effort unexpectedly resigned Sunday, saying it had become clear that his organization would not be allowed to operate independently.
The United Nations has rejected the plan. UN World Food Program executive director Cindy McCain told CBS she has not seen evidence to support Israel’s claims that Hamas is responsible for the looting of aid trucks. “These people are desperate, and they see a World Food Program truck coming in and they run for it,” she said.
COGAT, the Israeli defense body overseeing aid for Gaza, said 107 trucks of aid entered Sunday. The UN has called the rate far from enough. About 600 trucks a day entered during the ceasefire.
Israel also says it plans to seize full control of Gaza and facilitate what it describes as the voluntary migration of its over 2 million population, a plan rejected by Palestinians and much of the international community.
US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited Israel on Sunday and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.