Israeli troops push into Jabalia, airstrikes kill five in Rafah
Send a link to a friend
[May 21, 2024]
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
(Reuters) - Israeli forces thrust deeper into the Jabalia camp in
northern Gaza on Tuesday, laying waste to residential districts with
tank and air bombardments, residents said, while Israeli air strikes
killed at least five people in the southern city of Rafah.
Simultaneous Israeli assaults on the northern and southern edges of the
Gaza Strip this month have caused a new exodus of hundreds of thousands
of people fleeing their homes, and sharply restricted the flow of aid,
raising the risk of famine.
In Jabalia, a sprawling refugee camp built for displaced civilians 75
years ago, the Israeli army used bulldozers to clear shops and property
near the local market, residents said, in a military operation that
began almost two weeks ago.
Israel said it has returned to the camp, where it had claimed to have
dismantled Hamas months ago, to prevent the militant group that controls
Gaza from rebuilding its military operations there.
The health authorities and Gaza Civil Emergency Service said dozens of
bodies remained trapped under rubble of houses and on the roads in
Jabalia, but rescue teams have been unable to reach them.
"Israel is destroying the camp on the heads of the people, the
bombardment never stops, and the world is calling for more food to enter
Gaza. We want to spare lives not extra food," said Abu El-Nasser, a
resident of Jabalia, who fled to nearby Gaza City.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/May/21/images/ads/current/ldn_booksda_CHASSKAREN_010924.png)
More than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, which is now
in its eighth month, according to the Gaza health ministry. At least
10,000 others are missing and believed to be trapped under destroyed
buildings, it says.
Israel is seeking to eradicate Hamas after militants from the group
stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 and taking more
than 250 hostages, by Israeli tallies.
The war has devastated the overcrowded coastal enclave, destroying
houses, schools and hospitals and creating a dire humanitarian crisis.
In a roundup of its military activity over the past day, the Israeli
Defence Forces said they had dismantled "about 70 terror targets"
throughout the Gaza Strip, including military compounds, weapon storage
sites and warehouses, missile launchers and observation posts.
[to top of second column]
|
![](../images/052124PIX/news_j17.jpg)
Smoke rises following an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing conflict
between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Jabalia
refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, May 18, 2024. REUTERS/Rami
Zohod/File Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/May/21/images/ads/current/graue_lda_CAMARO4113_051324.jpg)
Residents and medical officials said Israeli tanks were besieging
the Al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia for the third day, and opened fire
against Kamal Adwan hospital in nearby Beit Lahiya town, medics
said.
In the north, an airstrike on a house in Jabalia killed at least
three people overnight. In the south, airstrikes killed three
children in a house in Khan Younis and at least five people
including three children in a home in Rafah.
East of Khan Younis, residents said they were fleeing Khuzaa town
after Israeli troops began a limited incursion on the eastern edge
of the territory, bulldozing across the border fence.
"Bombing everywhere, people are leaving in panic. It was a
surprising incursion," one resident from Khuzaa told Reuters over
the phone as he and his family were leaving.
Israel is pushing on with its operations in Rafah on Gaza's southern
edge, where more than half of the territory's 2.3 million population
had sought refuge after being displaced from areas further north.
UNRWA, the main United Nations agency in Gaza, estimated as of
Monday that more 800,000 had fled since Israel began targeting the
border city at the beginning of the month, despite international
pleas for restraint on concern over civilian casualties.
Israel has pledged to continue with the Rafah assault to root out
what it says are four remaining battalions of Hamas fighters holed
up there.
The Israeli military said over the past day it had "identified a
terrorist shooting mortar shells at IDF troops", though no injuries
were reported. It said it had taken out the foe with an airstrike
and had located rockets and additional military equipment in the
area.
(Reporting by Nidal Al-Mughrabi in Cairo; writing by Sharon
Singleton)
[© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]This material
may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |