Strike on densely populated residential block causes massive crater in Jabalia refugee camp, kills and wounds many.
Reports say Jabalia refugee camp Gaza hit in air raid
Oct 31st, 13:52
From Hani Mahmoud in Khan Younis, southern Gaza
Within the past 30 minutes or so, there has been an Israeli air attack that targeted a group of residential homes in Jabalia camp in the north of Gaza.
There are initial reports that at least 50 people were killed on the spot. We have learned that most of those killed are from the same family. The group of residential homes collapsed while people were still inside.
We do not have the exact number of people injured, but we believe that hundreds are being brought to local hospitals.
More than 50 killed in Jabalia strike: Indonesian hospital director
Oct 31st, 14:15 GMT
The director of the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza says dozens of people were killed in the strike on the Jabalia refugee camp.
“More than 50 people have been killed so far,” Atef al-Kahlout told Al Jazeera, adding that the hospital was unable to yet provide the total number of casualties as it was still counting the victims.
“The hospital will stop working completely tomorrow evening due to fuel shortages,” the director warned.
A health ministry statement also said that at least 50 people were killed in the bombardment.
“More than 50 martyrs and around 150 wounded and dozens under the rubble, in a heinous Israeli massacre that targeted a large area of homes in Jabalia camp in the northern (Gaza) Strip,” the statement said, according to AFP.
Jabalia refugee camp ‘completely destroyed’
Oct 31st, 14:20 GMT
Gaza’s interior ministry reports the Jabalia refugee camp has been “completely destroyed” by Israeli bombardment.
“These buildings house hundreds of citizens. The occupation’s air force destroyed this district with six US-made bombs. It is the latest massacre caused by Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip,” spokesman Iyad al-Bazum told reporters outside of a hospital in Khan Younis.
He said about 400 people were either dead or wounded.
“The international community must act immediately to stop Israel before it is too late.”
‘Stop this mass killing’: Doctor says US and Europe need to step in
Oct 31st, 14:40 GMT
Dr Mads Gilbert, a pro-Palestinian activist who has worked in Gaza, says his sources on the ground say Israel bombed 15 civilian homes in the Jabalia camp.
“The last number I got was about 100 killed and 300 injured. There is absolutely no doubt that this is a mass murder. The hospital system in Gaza cannot accommodate 300 new injuries,” Gilbert told Al Jazeera.
He noted the main hospital al-Shifa will run out of fuel to power its generators and keep life-saving operations ongoing on Wednesday.
“It’s a continuation of an attack on the civilian society and the diminishing capacity of the healthcare system. I wonder when [US] President Joe Biden and EU President Ursula von der Leyen are going to say “enough is enough, stop this mass killing.
“More than 3,000 dead children, and we know hospitals cannot cope. These scenes now show flagrant violations of international law. Not only are they bombing civilian areas, they are also attacking hospitals.”
Chaotic scenes at Jabalia camp
Oct 31st, 14:54 GMT
The latest images and video from Jabalia refugee camp show buildings heavily damaged as rescuers and volunteers use their bare hands to search for survivors in huge amounts of concrete debris.
“It’s a massive massacre. It is hard to count the number of buildings that have been destroyed here,” Al Jazeera’s Anas Al Shareef, who is at the scene, reports.
People in different parts of the devastation can be seen frantically trying to pull people from the rubble – many of the victims women and children. Others are seen standing and crying, fearing family members and friends may be among the dead.
Destroyed vehicles litter the scene. Members of the civil defence units are on the ground looking for survivors. An aerial shot of the area shows tall buildings completely levelled to the ground.
‘The world is signing the death warrant’ of wounded Gaza people
Oct 31st, 15:15 GMT
Ahmad al-Kahlout, director of Gaza’s civil defence, has pleaded for international help to get fuel to overloaded hospitals after the latest Israeli attack killed and wounded hundreds of people in the Jabalia refugee camp.
“The beds are not enough, the dead and wounded are on the floor. We can’t guarantee treatment for anybody. Without fuel, our operations will completely stop. The intensive care patients, the kidney patients will all lose their lives. The world is signing the death warrant of these people,” al-Kahlout told Al Jazeera.
24 hours of relentless bombing in Gaza
Oct 31st, 15:20 GMT
Youmna ElSayed, reporting from Gaza
[note from OP: Youmna ElSayed is continuing to report live despite bombardments, white phosphorus dropped on residential buildings near her, and threats from the Israeli government to evacuate Gaza City or be killed in her home with her family]
All we can hear and see is the sound of war jets, missiles and smoke billowing from the sky. We can still hear the sound of tanks that keep on shelling.
The massive attack on the Jabalia refugee camp today was the largest of these bombings that have taken place in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
The situation at the nearby Indonesian Hospital suffering from a lack of fuel is catastrophic. The patients and the injured are on the floor of the hospital since there are not enough beds to accommodate the vast number of casualties.
Meanwhile, the hospital suffers from a lack of medication, medical staff and all medical resources; it’s impossible for these teams to operate and save the injured that are brought there.
Jabalia bombardment an ‘earthquake’
Oct 31st, 15:25 GMT
Jabalia resident Ragheb Aqal described the bombardment as “an earthquake” that shook the entire refugee camp.
“I went and saw the destruction … homes buried under the rubble and body parts and martyrs and wounded in huge numbers,” the 41-year-old told the AFP news agency.
“There’s no exaggerating when they talk about hundreds of martyrs and wounded.
People are still “transporting the remains of children, women and elderly”, he added.
Rescue teams trying to evacuate people from under the rubble
Oct 31st, 15:30 GMT
Rescue teams are trying to do their best to evacuate victims from under the rubble as more than a hundred Palestinians are missing due to the massive Israeli attack.
Medical teams are facing great difficulty dealing with the evacuation process as they are using simple equipment. But this devastation has destroyed hundreds of houses.
The Indonesian hospital, which was previously attacked, is already overcrowded and flooded with patients and displaced people who fled from their houses.
With the ongoing fuel crisis in that hospital, they are now depending on their second generators, which are also about to run out of fuel. So the situation will be dramatic if there’s going to be any further massacres committed in the area.
Most homes in Jabalia ‘very simple’
Oct 31st, 15:30 GMT
Safwat Kahlout, reporting from Gaza
I am from Jabalia refugee camp. I was born and grew up there … it is a very densely populated area.
The people who live in Jabalia are people who were expelled from their original villages in 1948. Most of the homes – not just in Jabalia but in other camps too – are very simple, with simple roofs. A big raid is good enough to destroy huge areas of the camp.
There are large families living in Jabalia in small houses; sometimes 20 people living on one or two floors.
‘We’re watching genocide live,’ former UN officials says
Oct 31st, 15:35 GMT
Aicha Elbasri, from the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, says the green light from the international community for Israel’s “crimes” means the carnage will only continue.
“What we are seeing today is one of the darkest hours of our times. We’re watching genocide live – the crime of crimes,” the former United Nations official told Al Jazeera.
Asked why Israel continues to commit massacres of civilians in Gaza, Elbasri replied, “Israel doesn’t have to justify – Israel is above the law. Israel is above the moral compass. It’s been permitted to carry out the worst crimes against humanity without any sense of accountability to anyone.
“As long as Washington is on its side, as long as the Europeans are giving it the licence to kill, as long as Arabs also aren’t taking any steps that could make Israel think again about its plan – I don’t think we’ll be seeing anything else.”
Red Crescent trying to transfer casualties, situations ‘absolutely horrific’
Oct 31st, 15:40 GMT
A spokesperson from the Palestine Red Crescent Society says teams are working on the ground to try and transfer the casualties to hospital following the attack on the Jabalia refugee camp.
“The situation is absolutely horrific,” Nebal Farsakh told Al Jazeera from Ramallah. “We have been witnessing this increasing number of casualties among Palestinian civilians in Gaza due to attacks against residential buildings, homes, streets, as well as places of worship and hospitals.
“Hospitals are already overwhelmed, and they barely can deal with the increasing number of casualties they are dealing with every single hour,” Farsakh said.
“[They] are working on full capacity. This comes at the same time all hospitals are literally collapsing due to shortages [of] medical supplies as well as medicines, and they are running out of fuel, which is urgently needed”.
Fast facts: Jabalia refugee camp
Oct 31st, 16:00 GMT
Jabalia is the largest of the Gaza Strip’s eight refugee camps.
The densely populated camp in the north of the besieged enclave covers an area of only 1.4 square kilometres (0.5sq miles). According to the UN, there are some 116,000 registered refugees in the camp.
The Israeli military has repeatedly attacked the camp since the start of the war, including on October 9, 12, 19 and 22, killing and wounding hundreds of people.
The camp houses three UN-run schools, which have been converted into shelters for hundreds of displaced families.
According to the UN, the camp suffers from overcrowding and a lack of living space.
“Shelters are built in close proximity to one another and there is a general lack of recreational and social space. In many cases, residents have had to add extra floors to their shelters to accommodate their families. Often, these lack proper design. Many live in substandard conditions,” it says.
Israeli bombing kills at least 15 in Nuseirat camp: WAFA
Oct 31st, 16:15 GMT
An Israeli air assault has killed at least 15 Palestinians in central Gaza in the Nuseirat refugee camp, after two residential buildings were hit, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA.
The bombing targeted 20th Street in Nuseirat, leaving dozens of others injured.
WAFA reported that there are believed to be more dead bodies under the rubble of the collapsed buildings.
‘They’re treating us like animals. And the world is silent’: Gaza writer
Oct 31st, 16:20 GMT
Yousri al-Ghoul says, since the war began, life for the people of Gaza has come to a complete halt.
“There are air raids every day. We can’t sleep or eat,” the writer from Beach refugee camp, also known as al-Shati camp, told Al Jazeera. “We have no fuel, no electricity. We can’t even go to the bathrooms.”
“They are treating us like we are animals,” he added. “And the world is silent. The US is giving Israel legitimacy to do whatever they want to Palestinians.”
“This is collective punishment. Everything is being targeted.”
Hamas calls on Arab, Muslim countries to take ‘decisive stance’ after Jabalia devastation
Oct 31st, 16:35 GMT
Hamas has released a statement following today’s Israeli attack on Jabalia.
The group has called on Arab and Muslim countries “to take a historic and decisive stance to stop the massacres” committed by Israel, and what it describes as a “genocide” against the Palestinian people.
“The massacre of the terrorist Zionist occupation [Israel] in the Jabalia camp is tolerated by all countries, governments and organisations that support this terrorist Zionist entity,” the statement said. “They are all biased towards the Israeli aggression and crime 25 days ago, first and foremost the United States of America.”
The statement added that “the blood, body parts and wounds” of those killed would remain.
“When will consciences be moved to stop the series of massacres, open the Rafah crossing, bring support, relief, fuel, and field hospitals into the Gaza Strip, and save thousands of innocent lives and souls, including children, women, the sick and the wounded?”
People came to Jabaliya in 1948, 1967 as ‘war refugees’
Oct 31st, 17:45 GMT
Mansour Shouman and his family left their home in central Gaza to seek refuge in Khan Younis amid Israel’s bombardment.
He spoke to Al Jazeera about Jabalia and how the area housed Palestinian refugees who first fled the Nakba in 1948, and then the Naksa in 1967.
“People in 1948, 1967, left their original homes in what is called now Israel, and came as war refugees to this area,” he said, adding that his wife also has relatives who are still living in Jabalia. “We don’t know right now what is going on with her family.”
Shouman described Jabalia as “the most condensed area” in Gaza, with hundreds of families and tens of houses stuck closely next to each other – and this made him believe that the death toll would rise significantly.
“I think there are hundreds under the rubble, and many families will mourn tonight inside Gaza – with their extended family outside of Gaza – and I think the whole world should mourn the death of humanity.”
‘At least 10 dead’ in Israeli attack on Gaza’s al-Shati camp
Another target of Israeli bombing today has been al-Shati refugee camp along the coast of Gaza City.
At least 10 people were killed in the attack, which hit a house in the camp, local sources told the Palestinian news agency WAFA.
A massive massacre’: Al Jazeera reporter describes the scene from Jabalia
Oct 31st, 17:55 GMT
From the middle of a giant crater that used to be homes in the Jabalia refugee camp, Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Shareef described the scene in front of him, as rescuers desperately dug into the rubble with their bare hands, in footage aired on the network.
“There was a little girl in this place, they are trying their best to reach this little girl,” al-Shareef said. Around him, people were attempting to help those trapped or retrieve bodies. Others were in shock at what had happened.
“Look at the destruction,” al-Shareef said, as he pointed to the shell of a building. “Most of the victims are kids, children, women. We’ve seen hundreds of victims here. The destruction is huge.”
Al-Shareef continued to walk over the rubble, amid an apocalyptic scene.
“It’s a massive massacre. You cannot count the number of destroyed buildings in this place.”
Israeli military says Jabalia attack targeted Hamas commander
Oct 31st, 18:00 GMT
In the first Israeli response since the Jabalia attack, spokesperson Daniel Hagari said that Israeli forces had carried out a large attack on Jabalia and killed Hamas commander Ebrahim Biari.
The military described Biari as the commander of the Jabalia centre battalion that oversaw fighting in all of northern Gaza. Hagari said Israeli forces killed about 50 Hamas fighters over the last day.
Hagari added that the Jabalia attack had severely damaged the command and control centre of the sector.
Hamas did not immediately respond to the claim, which comes after Gaza’s interior ministry said an Israeli attack on the Jabalia refugee camp had killed and wounded hundreds.
Footage of the aftermath of the attack shows widespread devastation, with many civilians killed and injured.
Hamas denies one of its commanders was in Jabalia
Oct 31st, 18:50 GMT
Hamas has denied an Israeli claim that one of its commanders was in Jabalia when an Israeli air attack struck the refugee camp earlier on Tuesday, killing and wounding hundreds.
In a statement on the messaging app Telegram, the group said the Israeli claim was “a baseless lie”.
Impossible to verify Israeli claims: Analyst
Oct 31st, 19:00 GMT
Khaled Al Hroub, a professor in residence at Northwestern University in Qatar, said he was sceptical of the Israeli claim it had killed 50 Hamas fighter.
“When you cut off the entire Gaza Strip and specifically the northern part of it, from any internet, any communication, you have monopoly and full control on what goes in or goes out,” he told Al Jazeera.
“In this case, you are the only source of information. And so I think we need to be extremely careful at this moment in time in accepting any information that comes from the Israelis,” he said.
He added that Hamas’s ability to continue to launch rockets into Gaza draws into question how weakened the group is amid the Israeli ground operations.
19 members of Al Jazeera staff member’s family killed in Jabalia attack
Oct 31st, 19:25 GMT
The Israeli strike on Jabalia has claimed the lives of 19 members of the family of Al Jazeera’s broadcast engineer in Gaza, Mohamed Abu al-Qumsan.
The dead include Abu al-Qumsan’s father and two sisters.
Photos: Hundreds protest in Hebron against deadly Israeli attack on Jabalia
Oct 31st, 19:40 GMT
Hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets of Hebron to protest the deadly Israeli attack on Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.
Carrying the flags of Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah, the demonstrators chanted against Israeli crimes and demanded that the Palestinian Authority stop security coordination with Israel.
Others held up posters of Palestinians killed and injured in the Gaza Strip.
Political parties have declared a commercial strike in Hebron on Wednesday.
Al Jazeera denounces Israeli ‘massacre’ of member of staff’s family in Jabalia
Oct 31st, 19:50 GMT
Al Jazeera vehemently condemns the heinous and indiscriminate Israeli bombing that has resulted in killing of 19 family members of our dedicated SNG engineer, Mohamed Abu Al-Qumsan.
This unforgivable act, during the Jabalia massacre, claimed the lives of Mohamed’s father, two sisters, eight nephews and nieces, his brother, his brother’s wife, and their four children, his sister-in-law, and one uncle.
We extend our sincere condolences to Mohamed and his family and stand in solidarity with them during this time of profound sorrow, and we call for justice and accountability for this senseless murder of innocent lives.
These Israeli crimes against the civilians must not go without being held accountable and face the full force of international justice.
We urge the international community to address this grave injustice with utmost urgency to justice served for the families of Mohamed Abu Al-Qumsan and countless other innocent Gazan civilians who lost their loved ones.
Hundreds gather in Ramallah’s Manarah Square to support Gaza
Oct 31st, 19:55 GMT
Imran Khan, reporting from Ramallah, occupied West Bank
Emotions are running incredibly high and there is a pattern developing. Every time we see something like the Jabalia refugee camp bombing, or indeed the bombing of a hospital, people come out on the streets in the Manarah Square in Ramallah.
Just two hours ago, there were about 300 to 400 people out on the streets, chanting in support of the people of Gaza. What they do is they normally kind of walk into the square, they gather – this was during the prayer time – so they actually pray in Manarah Square and then they walk around the square and then they come back.
In the distance I can still hear people chanting … As more and more details of this Jabalia refugee camp bombing come out, we were expecting people to come out on the street despite the late hour.
People want to show their solidarity with the people of Gaza, with the Palestinians there.
Oftentimes there are familial connections there, as well. People from the occupied West Bank have families, uncles, aunts, et cetera, within Gaza, that they can’t get a hold of, so emotions [are] running incredibly high.
