what we know about the bombings of the Jabaliya camp, targeted by the Israeli army

The strike caused a large number of casualties and impressive damage. The Israeli army admitted to having bombed the Jabaliya camp on Tuesday, October 31, leaving at least 50 dead and several hundred injured, according to Hamas. It is the largest refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, home to 116,000 people, according to the UN.

According to the Israeli army, this bombing aimed to “eliminate” a Hamas leader. The Palestinian Islamist movement claimed that seven hostages had died in this attack, condemned by several countries.

On Wednesday, a new strike hit this refugee camp, according to civil defense in Gaza. This bombing caused enormous destruction, according to images from AFPTV. Franceinfo summarizes what we know on this subject.

Dozens dead, according to Hamas

According to the Health Ministry of the Hamas government, which has controlled Gaza since 2007, the bombing of the Jabaliya camp “more than 50” dead and hundreds injured.

In an AFPTV video, it is possible to count at least 47 bodies draped in shrouds lying on the ground in the courtyard of a hospital after being extracted from the rubble. “It was an earthquake scene”a resident of the camp, Ragheb Aqel, aged 41, testified to AFP.

“It’s a real massacre, houses were bombed while residents were inside, a large residential area was targeted”testifies a doctor. “There were seven or eight huge holes in the ground, lots of people killed, and human remains absolutely everywhere. It felt like the end of the world.”assures yet another witness to CNN.

Hamas announces the death of seven hostages, “including three foreigners”

Hamas’ military wing announced Wednesday that seven hostages, including “three holders of foreign passports”, had been killed in this Israeli bombardment.

“Death of seven civilian detainees, including three holders of foreign passports, in the Jabaliya massacre yesterday”, announced the Ezzedine al-Qassam brigades in a message on Telegram. The Élysée announced that Paris was “fully mobilized” to identify the nationality of these three foreigners killed.

Israeli army claims to have killed one of those responsible for the October 7 attack

The Israeli army confirmed this bombing, specifying that it had successfully targeted Ibrahim Biari, presented as one of those responsible for the October 7 attack by Hamas against Israel. According to the IDF, he was in “a vast complex of underground tunnels from which he directed operations.”

“We were able to reach Ibrahim Biari” And “a large number of terrorists who were with Biari were killed. The underground infrastructure used by the terrorists (…) also collapsed”said Jonathan Conricus, spokesperson for the Israeli forces.

Concerning civilians, he stressed that the army had called on them to evacuate on numerous occasions from the north of the Gaza Strip, a “war zone”. He added that he hoped that they “will make the right decision and evacuate to safer areas in the south”.

Part of the international community condemns Tuesday’s strike

Several countries have strongly condemned this Israeli strike. ““The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia condemns in the strongest terms the inhumane targeting by the Israeli occupying forces of the Jabaliya refugee camp in the besieged Gaza Strip, which killed and injured a large number of innocent civilians.”the Saudi Foreign Ministry said on X.

Qatar, involved in attempts to resolve the hostage crisis at the hands of Hamas, for its part condemned “a new massacre”and warned against operations likely to “undermining mediation efforts”.

If the Quai d’Orsay did not react,he head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said on Wednesday “horrified by the very high number of casualties caused by the Israeli bombardment in the bombing of the Jabaliya camp.”

Building on EU Council’s clear stance that Israel has the right to defend itself in line with international humanitarian law and ensuring the protection of all civilians, I am appalled by the high number of casualties following the bombing by Israel of the Jabalia refugee camp.

— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) November 1, 2023

Josep Borrell once again calls for humanitarian law to apply and the laws of war to be respected. “The security and protection of civilian populations is not only a moral obligation, but a legal one”he said.

The camp bombed again on Wednesday

The Hamas Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday that a new bombardment by the Israeli army had killed “tens” of people in the Jabaliya refugee camp. Although no assessment from an independent source was immediately possible, the strike caused enormous destruction, according to images from AFPTV.

After this second bombing, the Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, said, through his spokesperson, “dismayed by the escalation of violence in Gaza, including the deaths of Palestinians, including women and children, in Israeli airstrikes on residential areas of the densely populated Jabaliya refugee camp”.