The damage at Jabaliya camp
In the Jabaliya refugee camp — a densely built-up area of small streets on Gaza City’s outskirts — footage of the scene from Al-Jazeera TV showed at least four large craters where buildings once stood amid rubble surrounded by partially collapsed structures in Israeli airstrikes.
Dozens of rescue workers and bystanders dug through the wreckage, searching for survivors beneath the pancaked buildings. Young men carried the limp forms of two children from the upper floors of a damaged apartment block’s crumbling frame while helping down another child and woman. It was unclear whether the children were alive or dead.
Palestinians look for survivors after an Israeli strike in Rafah, Gaza Strip, on October 31 | AP/PTI
The Israeli military said it carried out a wide-scale strike in Jabaliya on Hamas infrastructure “that had taken over civilian buildings.” Brig. Gen. Daniel Hagari said an underground Hamas installation beneath a targeted building collapsed, toppling other nearby buildings. He said the commander killed in the strike, Ibrahim Biari, played a role in the October 7 attack on Israel.
The Israeli military also said on Tuesday, ground troops took control of a Hamas military stronghold in west Jabaliya, killing 50 militants. Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem denied the military’s claim, saying it was trying to justify “its heinous crime” against civilians.
Hagari repeated calls for civilians to evacuate northern Gaza to the south. The military says it targets Hamas fighters and infrastructure and that the militants endanger civilians by operating among them. The military has also repeatedly emphasized it will strike Hamas wherever it finds it. (AP)