More than 50 children were killed at a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip in a span of just 48 hours, according to UNICEF, as Israeli violence continues there without any end in sight.
The carnage took place in Jabalia, which has been the central point of Israel’s ethnic cleaning campaign in Gaza. Over the weekend, an attack there by the IDF leveled two residential buildings that hundreds of people had been sheltering in.
In addition, a UNICEF staff member who was participating in a polio vaccination campaign came under fire by Israeli forces. According to the World Health Organization, the IDF dropped a stun grenade on a Gaza City polio vaccination center, wounding four children, even though they had previously agreed on a humanitarian pause so the vaccination campaign could be carried out.
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement: “Taken alongside the horrific level of child deaths in North Gaza from other attacks, these most recent events combine to write yet another dark chapter in one of the darkest periods of this terrible war.”
Thousands of Palestinians have been evacuated so far from Jabalia and nearby towns such as Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya as the IDF carries out operations aimed at rooting out Hamas fighters there. They’ve cut the area off from Gaza City, and those still living there have been dealing with a lack of food and communications.
“Hell is boiling”
One man who had to leave his family behind in Beit Lahiya as he sought medical treatment told Reuters about their suffering there, saying: "They speak to me about their nights of horror, they tell me how every night they pray for their safety and they bid one another farewell. Hell is boiling there, I feel it inside my chest. I wish I hadn't left."
Multiple strikes there have killed hundreds of Palestinians, including an October 29 hit on a residential building that left 93 people dead as the IDF targeted a spotter on the roof. It is believed there are still around 100,000 people trapped there and unable to leave, with repeated bombardments obliterating shelters and people huddling together in the few structures that remain. As a result of this overcrowding, dozens of people often die in a single Israeli hit on a building.
The IDF says it has killed and captured hundreds of Hamas fighters in its operations there, many of whom they claim are hiding among civilians, and they’ve made no secret of their intention to continue.
An Israeli military official said: "We expect this campaign to last an additional few weeks at least. There is a lot of work to do there in order to dismantle Hamas' capabilities in this region."
Gaza’s Health Ministry announced in its Sunday death toll update that at least 27 Palestinians had been killed in the preceding 24 hours, while 86 had been injured. This raised the overall death toll since fighting broke out in October 2023 to 43,341; the number of Palestinians who have been injured is well above 100,000. These numbers are widely considered to be an undercount given the unknown number of Palestinians who are missing and likely dead beneath rubble.
UN officials have characterized the situation in northern Gaza as “apocalyptic” and warn that the area’s population is facing imminent risk of death.
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