Israel attacks Gaza's largest refugee camp, claims to have killed Hamas commander

According to Reuters, medical staff here are struggling to treat the wounded, even setting up operating rooms right in the hospital corridor. Israeli tanks have been operating in Gaza for at least the past four days after weeks of bombing in retaliation for the Hamas attack on October 7.

An Israeli Defense Forces statement said the attack on Jabalia, Gaza’s largest refugee camp, killed Ibrahim Biari, who it said was the ringleader of what it called a “murderous terrorist attack” on October 7.

Palestinian health officials said at least 50 Palestinians were killed in the explosion at the refugee camp and 150 others were wounded. Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem denied any senior commanders were there and called the claim an Israeli pretext to kill civilians.

A Hamas statement said 400 people were killed and wounded in Jabalia, home to refugee families from wars with Israel since 1948. Reuters said it was not possible to independently verify the casualty figures.

Also according to Reuters, Israel has sent repeated warnings to Gaza residents to evacuate the northern areas and while many have evacuated to the south, many remain.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby would not comment on the explosion at the refugee camp, saying he was unaware of the information. "Killing civilians is not an objective in war" by Israel, Kirby said.

Health crisis engulfs Gaza

UN and other aid officials say civilians in Gaza have been plunged into a public health disaster, as hospitals struggle to treat casualties amid dwindling power supplies.

After the attack in Jabalia, dozens of bodies, covered in white sheets, lined up beside the nearby Indonesian Hospital.

With medicine supplies running low, power outages and airstrikes or shelling rocking hospitals, surgeons in Gaza have been working around the clock to try to save the large numbers of patients constantly being brought in. One doctor said they have often had to set up operating rooms in corridors and sometimes even in the hospital’s waiting area.

Hamas has told mediators it will release a number of foreign prisoners in the coming days.

Meanwhile, families of Israeli victims of the October 7 attack appealed to the International Criminal Court on October 31 to order an investigation into the killings and kidnappings. Israel is not a member of the Hague-based court and refuses to recognize its jurisdiction.