Israel-Hamas war: Frontline shifts to refugee camp amid speculation over hostage release

Israeli troops fought Palestinian militants in a dense, urban refugee camp on Tuesday (November 21) as the army expanded its operations across northern Gaza in the seventh week of a horrific war.

The frontline of the war has shifted to the Jabaliya camp, a dense warren of concrete buildings near Gaza City that houses refugees from the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation and their descendants.

Israel has been bombarding the area for weeks. The military said Hamas fighters have regrouped there and in other eastern districts after being pushed out of much of Gaza City.

The military said it struck three tunnel shafts where Hamas fighters were hiding and destroyed rocket launchers, adding that “dozens” of militants have been killed in recent days.

A strike on a nearby hospital killed 12 people on Monday as Israeli troops and tanks battled militants outside its gates.

Military footage from other areas in the north show widespread destruction, with nearly every building appearing to be damaged or destroyed.

Dragging war

The war sparked by Hamas' surprise October 7 attack into Israel has exacted a heavy toll on Palestinian civilians.

It is unclear how many people remain in Gaza’s north, but the UN estimates that some 160,000 people are still in its shelters there though it is no longer able to provide services.

Some 1.7 million Palestinians, about three fourths of Gaza's population, have fled their homes.

Hundreds of thousands of displaced people have packed into UN-run schools and other facilities across southern Gaza.

As the shelters have overflowed, people have been forced to sleep on the streets outside, with little shelter from winter rains that have hit the region.

Across Gaza, there are shortages of food, water and fuel for generators to power basic infrastructure.

Hospitals hit

Israel continues to strike what it says are militant targets across Gaza, often killing women and children.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians in the north had sheltered in hospitals but those have steadily been emptied out as the fighting has reached their gates. Most are no longer operational.

Some 200 wounded patients and their companions were evacuated from the Indonesian hospital near Jabaliya to southern Gaza on Monday. But up to 500 wounded people and some 2,000 displaced Palestinians remain stranded there, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.

A similar standoff has played out in recent days at Shifa Hospital, Gaza's largest.

Israel has provided some evidence in recent days of a militant presence at Shifa. But it has yet to substantiate its claims that Hamas had a major command centre beneath the facility.

Mounting casualties

More than 12,700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in the West Bank. Officials there say another 4,000 are missing.

About 1,200 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mainly civilians during the October 7 attack, in which Hamas dragged some 240 captives back into Gaza.

The military says 68 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza ground operations.

Israel, the United States and Qatar, which mediates with Hamas, have been negotiating for weeks over a hostage release that would be paired with a temporary cease-fire and the entry of more humanitarian aid.

Izzat Rishq, a senior Hamas official, said Tuesday that an agreement could be reached “in the coming hours," in which Hamas would release captives and Israel would release Palestinian prisoners.

(With agency inputs)