- Hamas says 400 dead and injured in attack on Jabalia, which houses families of refugees from 1948 wars
- Communications and internet services remained cut off in Gaza again on Wednesday, says Paltel
JERUSALEM/ GAZA: A first group of civilian evacuees from Gaza crossed into Egypt under a Qatari-mediated deal on Wednesday while Israeli forces bombed the Palestinian enclave from land, sea and air as they pressed their offensive against Hamas fighters.
The evacuees, who had been trapped in Gaza since the start of the war more than three weeks ago, were driven in ambulances through the Rafah border crossing. A source at the border said they were undergoing security checks on the Egyptian side.
Under the deal reached between Egypt, Israel and Hamas, a number of foreign nationals and critically wounded people will be allowed to leave the besieged territory.
Despite the breakthrough on the humanitarian front, Israeli war planes, naval boats and artillery pounded Gaza throughout the night, inflicting scores more casualties among the civilian population, Palestinian residents said.
Hospitals struggled to cope as fuel shortages forced shutdowns.
Israel sent its forces into Hamas-controlled Gaza following weeks of air and artillery strikes in retaliation for a deadly attack by the Islamist group on southern Israel on Oct 7.
Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas. But the civilian death toll in Gaza and desperate humanitarian conditions have caused concern across the world as food, fuel, drinking water and medicine run short.
Israeli airstrikes hit a densely populated refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, killing dozens of Palestinians as medics struggled to treat the casualties in the enclave where food, fuel and basic supplies are running scarce.
The health ministry in Gaza said Israeli air and artillery bombardment has now killed more than 8,500 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women or children.
The Israeli military said 11 soldiers were also killed in fighting in Gaza on Tuesday, the biggest one-day loss for the armed forces since Hamas fighters attacked southern Israel on October 7.
Israel’s Army Radio said most of the dead were infantrymen whose vehicle was struck by an anti-armor missile.
Israel sent its forces into Gaza following weeks of air bombardments in retaliation for the attack, and an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) statement claimed the airstrikes on Jabalia, Gaza’s largest refugee camp, had killed Ibrahim Biari, a Hamas commander it said was “pivotal” in the planning and execution of the assault.
“I understand that is also the reason why there are many reports of collateral damage and non-combatant casualties. We’re looking into those as well,” said IDF spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus
Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem denied any senior commander was in the camp, and called the claim an Israeli pretext for killing civilians. Palestinian health officials said at least 50 Palestinians were killed and 150 wounded.
A Hamas statement said there were 400 dead and injured in Jabalia, which houses families of refugees from wars with Israel dating back to 1948.
The blast left large craters surrounded by wrecked buildings. Israel repeatedly warned Gaza residents to evacuate northern areas and while many have gone south, many have stayed.
Israel besieged Gaza after the Hamas attack, and the UN and other aid officials said civilians in the enclave were living in a public health catastrophe, with hospitals struggling to treat casualties as electricity supplies petered out.
‘Progress’ on safe passage for foreigners
The United States has made “real progress” in the last few hours in negotiations to secure a safe passage for Americans and other foreign nationals who wish to leave Gaza, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Israel on Friday for meetings with members of the government and then make other stops in the region, the department said.
On Tuesday, Blinken said the United States and other countries were looking at “a variety of possible permutations” for the future of Gaza if Hamas fighters are removed from control. Israel has vowed to annihilate Hamas after several inconclusive wars dating back to 2007.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed international calls for a “humanitarian pause” in fighting to enable emergency aid deliveries to civilians suffering from critical shortages of food, medicine, drinking water and fuel.
The US, Qatar and Egypt have been working to open the Rafah crossing into Egypt to allow people to come and go.
Egyptian authorities would allow 81 Gazans who were severely wounded in the weeks of bombardment to enter Egypt on Wednesday to complete treatment, the Palestinian border authority said.
Waiting on the border
An Egyptian security source had said earlier that up to 500 foreign passport holders would pass though the Rafah crossing on Wednesday. About 200 people were waiting at the Palestinian side of the border, the source said.
A second source said not all were expected to make it out on Wednesday and there was no timeline for how long the crossing would remain open.
A Western official said a list of people with foreign passports who can leave Gaza had been agreed between Israel and Egypt. An Israeli official confirmed that Israel was coordinating the exits with Egypt.
Egypt has prepared a field hospital in Sheikh Zuwayed, medical sources said. Ambulances were waiting at Rafah.
The first source said the deal was not linked to other issues, such as the release of about 240 hostages held by Hamas or a “humanitarian pause” in the fighting which many countries have called for but which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected.
Indonesia said it was trying to get out 10 nationals but three of them, volunteers at an Indonesia-run hospital, have decided to stay. The Philippines, Jordan and Italy also said they said they hoped to bring citizens out on Wednesday.
The Hamas attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7 that triggered the hostilities killed about 300 soldiers and 1,100 civilians, Israel says.
The Gaza health ministry says at least 8,796 Palestinians, including 3,648 children, have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since then.
Refugee camp hit
On Tuesday, an Israeli air strike killed about 50 people and wounded 150 in Jabalia, Gaza’s largest refugee camp, Palestinian health officials said.
The Israeli military said the attack had killed Ibrahim Biari, a Hamas commander it said was pivotal in organising the Oct. 7 assault, as well as dozens of Hamas fighterst.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief said he was appalled by the high number of casualties in Jabalia and he urged all sides to respect the rules of war.
Josep Borrell said Israel had a right to defend itself but “laws of war and humanity must always apply”.
The EU last week called for pauses in Israeli bombing and Hamas rocket attacks to get humanitarian aid into Gaza through safe corridors.
“With each passing day, as the situation becomes more and more dire, this is more urgent than ever,” Borrell said.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said that Israeli hostages held in Gaza were subject to the same “death and destruction” that Palestinians have faced.
Eleven Israeli soldiers were also killed in fighting on Tuesday, the Israeli military said, its biggest one-day loss since the initial assault.
Netanyahu mourned mounting military losses and cautioned that the war would be long.
“We are in a tough war,” he said. “I promise to all citizens of Israel: We will get the job done. We will press ahead until victory.”
Cross-border Hamas rocket fire continued, with warning sirens sounding in southern Israel communities as well as the port cities of Ashkelon and Ashdod.
Power/Internet outage
Overnight Israeli ground forces clashed with fighters from Hamas and other groups in the north, southern and eastern areas of Gaza – part of a series of incursions apparently aimed at incremental gains rather than a full-scale invasion.
Communications and internet services were cut off in Gaza again on Wednesday, telecommunications provider Paltel said.
“They don’t want the world to see their crimes against civilians,” said Gaza resident Ahmed Muhey.
Dozens of Palestinians gathered outside the Nasser Hospital morgue waiting to get the bodies of their relatives for burial.
Inside, bodies lay on the ground being prepared to be shrouded in white after they were cleaned of dust and blood.
Health officials said they had received 15 bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes overnight in Khan Younis, including four children.
“Everyday there are dead and every day there are children or women among them or both,” said one doctor.
Two hospitals – Al Shifa Medical and the Indonesian Hospital – faced power outages as their generators were running out of fuel.
Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila said the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship hospital, Gaza’s only cancer treatment facility, was now out of service due to the lack of fuel.
The violence – the worst in many years of sporadic warfare – erupted at a time when Palestinian aspirations for an independent state and an end to Israel’s occupation have little prospect of being fulfilled.
Peace talks are now a distant memory and Netanyahu’s right-wing government has expanded Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. Israel sees Hamas, which has vowed to destroy the Jewish state, as an existential threat.
