Israeli forces ramp up north Gaza assault as 55 killed across enclave

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

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

At least 55 people were killed in the past 24 hours in the enclave, Gaza’s Ministry of Health said on Tuesday, with at least 12 bodies recovered after an Israeli attack near al-Faluja in the besieged Jabalia refugee camp.

Mahmoud Basal, the spokesman for the Palestinian Civil Defence 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 streets of the neighbourhood, said Basal.

Palestinians carry their belongings as they flee areas north of Gaza City [Omar al-Qattaa/AFP]

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, reporting from the scene.

In the aftermath of the air attack, rescuers were seen frantically helping survivors exit from a heavily damaged building, with one man carrying an injured child.

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

‘Unimaginable loss’

Over the past year, Israeli troops have repeatedly returned to the Jabalia refugee camp, which dates back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation.

The attack on Jabalia follows Israeli orders to fully evacuate northern Gaza, including Gaza City. An estimated 400,000 Palestinians remain in the north, according to United Nations estimates.

The UN’s human rights office said on Tuesday the Israeli military appeared to be “cutting off North Gaza completely from the rest of the Gaza Strip”.

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

Fighting elsewhere

An Israeli air attack destroyed several homes on al-Sinaa street in the west of Gaza City early on Tuesday, with two bodies recovered, according to the civil defence.

A search continues for 12 other people believed to have been in the houses at the time, it said.

Meanwhile, in central Gaza, four Palestinians were killed when a house was struck in the Nuseirat camp belonging to the al-Salhi family, the civil defence said.

Relatives of Palestinians killed in an Israeli attack grieve during their funeral at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip [Hatem Khaled/Reuters]

In southern Gaza, at least 10 people from a family were killed and many others wounded in Bani Suheila in eastern Khan Younis following an Israeli air raid on a house.

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

“They thought they were being protected and safe, but not any more. This has deepened the shattered sense of safety for everyone in eastern Khan Younis,” Mahmoud said.

In a separate attack, six people of a family were killed in Khan Younis’s al-Fukhari district.

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

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Al Jazeera and news agencies