Children 'buried in the street' in northern Gaza as Israeli bombardment continues for 11th day
At least 300 people have been killed in Jabalia, including relatives of this teenager who were killed in an Israeli air strike on the weekend. (AFP: Omar Al-Qattaa)
In short:
Gaza's north is under renewed attack by the Israel Defense Forces after it claimed there was evidence Hamas was reforming in the area.
Palestinian health authorities estimate more than 300 people have been killed.
An aid shipment of 30 trucks has been allowed to enter Gaza's north. Previously, aid had not been delivered since October 1.
Israel continues to bombard northern Gaza, in what has been described by aid workers as one of the most intense operations since the war started.
Now there are fears that Israel intends to empty Gaza's north of civilians in line with a controversial plan put together by former generals.
Loading...Residents and refugees in the city of Jabalia are entering their 11th day under fire, in a renewed push by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) that it said came after intelligence that Hamas was "reforming in the area".
The IDF has told people in the north to move out of the area for their safety, but a Gazan man told the ABC the fighting made it hard to leave.
"The first people who left were targeted by drones, so people were scared and did not leave," he said.
This man has told the ABC the fighting makes it hard to leave the area safely. (ABC News)
Days later, he said, bodies lie in the streets of Jabalia, which is home to one of Gaza's largest refugee camps.
"Nobody can even come close to them to bring them and identify them. Not even their families could approach them."
He said that due to the siege, residents could not get to the cemetery so "people will bury their children in the streets".
This man says his house was destroyed by the Israeli army. (ABC News)
Another man told the ABC his house was completely destroyed by the Israeli army.
"There are still many people trapped under their destroyed houses from the beginning of the war last year," he added.
He said there was no safe place in Gaza, not even in the south where Israel also targets camps.
"We call upon the world and the international community to immediately interfere," he said.
Palestinian health authorities estimate more than 300 people have been killed in this offensive in northern Gaza.
Controversial plan for the north
The former generals' plan, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously said he would consider, called for civilians to be cleared from the north, and then any remaining militants put under siege until they "surrender or starve".
The military has denied it is implementing the plan
The United Nations human rights office said on Monday that the Israeli military appeared to be "cutting off North Gaza completely from the rest of the Gaza Strip".
"The separation of North Gaza raises further concerns that Israel does not intend to allow civilians to return to their homes, and the repeated calls for all Palestinians to leave northern Gaza raise grave concerns of large-scale forced transfer of the civilian population," it said in a statement.
The UN Human Rights Office told Israel that the forcible transfer of the population of North Gaza would amount to a war crime and may amount to other atrocity crimes.
Israeli officials and an IDF spokesman denied there was any systematic plan underway.
Lead author, retired General Giora Eiland, said his plan was to pressure Hamas to release hostages by ending its control of territory and aid, rather than by sending in Israeli forces.
"What they're doing in Jabalia now is more of the same," retired General Eiland told Army Radio on Sunday. "My plan is not being implemented."
Reports of snipers
Sam Rose from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) told the ABC that people in the area under heavy bombardment were unable to do anything about it and it was almost impossible for aid groups to get them the services they need.
"Simply, it's catastrophic,"the senior deputy director for UNRWA in Gaza said.
He described the estimated 400,000 people in northern Gaza, including around Jabalia, as being stranded.
Hundreds of buildings in northern Gaza have been reduced to rubble. (ABC News)
"The wall of military operations, [the] intensity of the fighting that they're confronted with wherever they go means that they can't leave," he said.
"They have been able, some people, to a degree, to move from building to building, to try and literally dodge the bullets.
"But we're also hearing reports — we're not being able to verify these — but we're hearing reports of people being shot by helicopters, by drones, by snipers."
One of the Gazans the ABC spoke to said people in the refugee camp could not leave because of the bullets and air strikes.
"As for food and water, do not even ask about it. The camp is besieged and people do not have water or food," he said.
"We've witnessed all types of suffering including hunger, bombing, and everything else. We are still patient, but our patience will end soon."
On Saturday, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said that with the main crossings into the north closed, no food aid had entered since October 1. It said the only functioning bakery in North Gaza caught fire after being hit by an explosive munition.
"The north is basically cut off and we're not able to operate there," said Antoine Renard, the WFP's country director for the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
On Monday night, the IDF said trucks carrying flour and food from the WFP were transferred from Ashdod port through the Erez West crossing.
At least 10 people were killed in an attack while they were queuing for food at a distribution centre on Monday, according to Palestinians medics.
Refugees have been ordered to evacuate the northern Gaza Strip. (Reuters: Hussam Al-Zaanin)
Operation underway to move ICU patients
When the evacuation orders were handed down last week, the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, Hussam Abu Safiya, said the health centre was told it would have to move its patients out.
In a video released by Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, he said eight patients were in intensive care and could not be moved.
"I don't believe there is any other place that can receive this large number who need artificial respiratory machines in the Gaza Strip," he said.
"All the cases are critical; they are all dependent on oxygen."
He said the cases were people injured in the war and said the hospital was at risk of running out of fuel because shipments were not being let through roadblocks.
Patients from Kamal Adwan Hospital were evacuated to a hospital in Gaza City by the Palestine Red Crescent Society. (Palestine Red Crescent Society via Reuters)
The United Nations revealed to the ABC an operation was underway to try to get the intensive care patients to another hospital in Gaza, in a mission run by the World Health Organization, the Palestinian Red Crescent and other aid agencies.
"Picture it in our own countries, hospitals providing intensive care provide very specialised services," UNRWA's Sam Rose said.
"The thought of moving someone, a child, an elderly relative, whoever, from one intensive care unit to another in a hospital 10 miles down the road — it certainly wouldn't be possible in my country, England, I don't know about in yours.
"But picture trying to do this under bombardment … there just seems to be no end to it."
There are few safe exits from the north of Gaza to the south, despite evacuation orders. (AFP: Abood Abusalama)
Israel claims dozens of militants killed
The IDF has said it is conducting "precise" strikes to target terrorists in the area and has killed dozens of militants.
It recently pointed to a raid of a "command and control complex" on Wednesday at a site that was "previously used as a medical complex in Jabalia".
The IDF listed the names of "12 terrorists affiliated with the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organisations" that it said had been "eliminated" in the raid.
"Some of whom participated in the bloody terrorist attack on the towns of the envelope area on October 7," it said.
Continuous Israeli bombardment of northern Gaza has left most of it in ruins. (ABC News)
Media in Israel has questioned the quality of the intelligence and motivation of the operation, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has backed his defence force.
"Our brave soldiers are now in the heart of Jabaliya, where they are dismantling the Hamas strongholds," he said.
Cameraman shot in the neck
Very few journalists are on the ground as the operation plays out in northern Gaza. Foreign press is not allowed, except as part of a tightly controlled embed with the IDF, but there are members of the Palestinian media there.
Cameraman Fadi Al-Wahidi is among them. However, he was shot in the neck while working in the Jabalia refugee camp.
His colleague, Anas al-Sharif, from Al Jazeera Arabic, said Al-Wahidi was "shot by an Israeli sniper while professionally covering events".
"He was wearing a press vest clearly marking him as a journalist," al-Sharif wrote on X along with a photo showing Al-Wahidi face down on the ground wearing the vest.
The Al Jazeera Network has released a statement saying Israeli forces had "targeted a number of journalists working in and around Jabalia camp in the Gaza Strip".
It said another camera operator had been killed and that Al-Wahidi's injury was "critical".
It accused Israeli forces of being "increasingly hostile toward media workers" in the region.
"Al Jazeera urgently calls on the international community to take immediate action to ensure the safety of journalists and civilians in Gaza and hold the Israeli Occupation Forces accountable for their repeated crimes against journalists," it said.
The IDF said it took all operationally feasible measures to mitigate harm to civilians, including journalists, and that it never deliberately targeted journalists.
"Given the ongoing exchanges of fire, remaining in an active combat zone has inherent risks. The IDF will continue to counter threats while persisting to mitigate harm to civilians," it said.