An Israeli airstrike killed at least 33 people including 21 women at a refugee camp in northern Gaza, the strip’s Hamas-run government said.
There was no immediate comment on the reported attack in Jabalia from Israel, whose forces have besieged the densely populated camp for weeks.
the killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar this week raised hopes the war would end in some places but the group’s deputy leader said Hamas would only be strengthened.
US President Joe Biden said there was a chance “towards a ceasefire” in Lebanon, where Israel is fighting Hezbollah militants, but that it would be “more difficult in Gaza”.
He spoke as he left the German capital Berlin, where he met the leaders of Germany, France and Britain.
According to a statement from the Hamas-run government media office in Gaza, Friday’s airstrike also injured more than 85 people, some seriously, as the homes of three families in the camp were attacked. .
The agency added that the final death toll could reach 50 people because many people were buried under the rubble of buildings.
The report could not be independently verified. Local sources indicate that northern Gaza is effectively isolated, with telecommunications and internet services cut off in the area.
A video circulating on social media – which the BBC has not verified – appears to show bodies wrapped in white shrouds placed in the courtyard of al-Awda Hospital.
The hospital director spoke to reporters about the huge number of casualties.
“Ambulance teams are still trying to get the martyrs and injured people out of Jabalia,” the director said.
“Our hospital wards are full and many injured people are being treated on the floor.”
According to Reuters news agency, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said at least 39 Palestinians, many in Jabalia, were killed in Israeli strikes on Friday before the latest attack.
About 400,000 people have been trapped in the camp with little food and water for more than two weeks.
The head of the United Nations Office of Humanitarian Assistance, Georgios Petropoulos, told the BBC’s Newshour program that families in Jabalia were enduring “dire conditions”.
“We cannot sound the alarm bell strongly enough about the severity and danger of the situation for civilians there,” he said.
Israel said it sent about 30 truckloads of goods to northern Gaza on Friday, including food, water, medical supplies and shelter equipment but local health officials said the aid was Reuters has not yet reached the worst affected areas such as Jabalia.
Israel has repeatedly denied blocking humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza, but the US has demanded that it increase access or risk having some US military aid cut off.
Israeli Minister Amichai Chikli told the BBC that Israel had “blocked” areas of northern Gaza, including Jabalia.
“We allowed civilians to escape into the safe zone and we prevented supplies from entering the blockaded area,” he told the Newshour programme.
He affirmed that this is “legal according to international law”.
Since the Hamas-led attack on Israel just over a year ago, at least 42,500 people have been killed and tens of thousands injured in Gaza, the Hamas government said.
About 1,200 people were killed by Hamas and its allies in the October 7, 2023 attack, and another 251 were taken to Gaza as hostages.
On Friday, Hamas deputy leader Khalil al-Hayya said the Israeli hostages would not be returned until Israel ends the war and withdraws from Gaza.
Sinwar is believed to be responsible for the October 7 attack. According to the Israeli military, he was killed in a firefight after the building where he was hiding in the southern Gaza city of Rafah was attacked. attacked by “tank fire”.
The Israeli pathologist who performed the autopsy told American media that he had been shot in the head.
Doctor Chen Kugel also discovered injuries to the right forearm from a “rocket”, left leg injuries from “falling bricks” and injuries from shrapnel.
