By Ken Afor
As many foreigners prepared to leave the Gaza Strip on Thursday, the Hamas government said at least 195 Palestinians were killed in an attack on the Jabaliya refugee camp that Israel said killed Hamas commanders .
At least 320 people on the preliminary list, consisting of 500 foreigners and many seriously injured Gazans, crossed into Egypt on Wednesday as part of the agreement between Israel, Egypt and Hamas.
Nationals from Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Jordan, the United Kingdom and the USA were all evacuated.
According to Gaza officials, the Rafah crossing would reopen on Thursday to allow more foreigners to leave. One source said around 7,500 foreign migrants will leave Gaza within two weeks.
Israel launched an offensive against Hamas militants by bombing Gaza from land, sea and air in an attempt to displace Iranian-backed forces. On October 7, Islamic groups began fighting across the border in southern Israel. Israel says Hamas gunmen have killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and arrested more than 200 terrorists.
The Gaza health ministry said that at least 8,796 Palestinians and 3,648 children have been killed in Israel’s attacks in the Gaza Strip since October 7.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said the explosion was heard early Thursday morning around Al-Quds Hospital in the crowded area of Gaza City. Israeli police had previously warned hospitals to evacuate immediately; UN officials said this could not be done without endangering patients.
Israel said two Hamas military leaders were killed in Jabaliya, Gaza’s largest refugee camp, in attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Justifying the attacks, it added that the group had command centres and other “terror infrastructure under, around and within civilian buildings, intentionally endangering Gazan civilians”.
The Hamas-run news agency in Gaza said on Thursday that at least 195 Palestinians died and 120 Palestinians went missing in two Israeli attacks on Jabaliya. The statement stated that at least 777 people were injured.
Palestinians try to commemorate the victims of the explosion on Wednesday. “It was a massacre,” said an eyewitness.
United Nations (UN) Human rights say an attack on the camp could lead to war crimes.
“Given the high number of civilian casualties and the scale of destruction following Israeli air strikes on Jabalia refugee camp, we have serious concerns that these are disproportionate attacks that could amount to war crimes,” the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights wrote on social media platform, X.
The Israeli army announced that another soldier died in the clashes in Gaza since it expanded its ground operations on Friday, bringing the death toll to 17.
While international calls were made to end the humanitarian crisis, the situation in coastal waters escalated with Israeli attacks and increased violence as scarcity of food, fuel, water and medicine persisted.
Dr. Fati Abu al-Hasan, a US national who was waiting to enter Egypt on Wednesday, described the hell in Gaza without water, food and shelter.
“We open our eyes on dead people and we close our eyes on dead people,” he said.
Hospitals, including Gaza’s only cancer hospital, are in a difficult situation due to fuel shortage. Israel did not allow the transportation of oil to human transport, citing concerns that Hamas militants would divert the oil to military use.
Gaza health ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qudra said Indonesia’s main power plant is no longer working due to lack of fuel.
The hospital is switching to a backup generator but cannot use electric morgue refrigerators and oxygen generators.
“If we don’t get fuel in the next few days, we will inevitably reach a disaster,” he said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to leave on Thursday for his second visit to Israel in less than a month. He plans to meet with Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Friday to express solidarity and stress the need to minimize Palestinian civilian casualties, his spokesman said.
Blinken will also visit Jordan, one of the few Arab countries that have normalized diplomatic relations with Israel. On Wednesday, Jordan recalled its ambassador to Tel Aviv until Israel stops its attacks on the Gaza Strip.
Israel said it regretted Jordan’s decision.In Jordan, Blinken will stress the importance of protecting civilian life and reiterate the US commitment to ensure that Palestinians are not forcibly removed from Gaza, the spokesman said.
Blinken will also continue talks led by Egypt and Qatar to secure the release of all hostages held by Hamas.
