‘Dead bodies everywhere’ in Jabalia camp as Israel besieges northern Gaza
Palestinians fleeing Jabalia camp arrive in Gaza City, 6 October 2024
Ibrahim Mohammad and Mahmoud Mushtaha report in +972 on 10 October 2024:
The Israeli army has launched a major new offensive in northern Gaza, besieging the Strip’s three northernmost cities and their surroundings. Early Sunday morning, the army ordered the approximately 400,000 residents remaining in the north of the Strip to move to the so-called “humanitarian area” in the south ahead of a new military operation. Many refused to leave their homes, and residents of Jabalia, Beit Hanoun, and Beit Lahiya have been under intense bombardment since Sunday afternoon, cut off from Gaza City to the south as tanks and drones shoot at people who try to escape.
Over 120 Palestinians have already been killed in the area since the latest operation began as a result of airstrikes, artillery fire, and shooting by Israeli soldiers and quadcopter drones. No humanitarian aid is entering the besieged areas, and Israel has bombed Jabalia’s last functioning bakery.
The army has also ordered the evacuation of all medical staff and patients from the three principal medical facilities in the area: Kamal Adwan Hospital and the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahiya, and Al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia. Residents of Jabalia refugee camp, the epicenter of the army’s current ground invasion, report that bodies are strewn across the streets, with ambulances unable to retrieve them.
“Quadcopter drones are hovering low over the streets, firing at anything that moves,” Mohammed Shehab, a 27-year-old resident, told +972 Magazine from inside the camp. “Snipers are positioned on rooftops, targeting anyone who steps outside. At the same time, soldiers and tanks have pushed into the camp, demolishing homes and bulldozing roads and fields.”