DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA STRIP: A large-scale Israeli operation in northern Gaza has killed dozens of people and threatens to shut down three hospitals over a year into the war with Hamas, Palestinian officials and residents said Wednesday.
Heavy fighting was underway in Jabaliya, where Israeli forces have carried out several major operations over the course of the war and then returned as militants regroup. The entire north, including Gaza City, has suffered heavy destruction and has been largely isolated by Israeli forces since late last year.
The continuing cycle of destruction and death in Gaza, unleashed by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, comes as Israel expands a weeklong ground offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon and considers a major retaliatory strike on Iran.
A rocket fired from Lebanon killed two people in the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona, and another six people were wounded in a series of stabbings in the city of Hadera on Wednesday, which Israeli police described as a militant attack. Police said the attacker was “neutralized,” indicating he was killed.
Hezbollah claimed the strike on Kiryat Shmona, saying it targeted “a gathering of enemy forces” with a rocket salvo. Ofir Yehezkeli, the town’s acting mayor, said the two people killed were a couple who were walking their dogs when a rocket fell near them.
Residents of Jabaliya, an urban refugee camp dating back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation, said thousands of people have been trapped in their homes since the operation began Sunday, as Israeli jets and drones buzz overhead and troops battle militants in the streets.
“It’s like hell. We can’t get out,” said Mohamed Awda, who lives with his parents and six siblings. He said there were three bodies in the street outside his home that could not be retrieved because of the fighting.
“The quadcopters are everywhere, and they fire at anyone. You can’t even open the window,” he told The Associated Press by phone, speaking over the sound of explosions.
Agencies
Israeli offensive kills dozens, threatens hospitals in northern Gaza
