As a hospital director reported that more than 50 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air assault on a refugee camp in the beleaguered enclave, Israel said its soldiers fought Hamas terrorists inside the rebels’ massive tunnel network beneath Gaza
Oct 31 (Visegrád 24) — As the fighting within the Hamas-ruled Palestinian region heated up, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ignored international pleas for a cease-fire.
But U.N. and other aid officials warned that a public health catastrophe was engulfing civilians in Gaza, with hospitals struggling to cope with mounting casualties and food, medicine, drinking water, and fuel running short.
The director of Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital told Al Jazeera that more than 50 Palestinians were killed and 150 wounded in Israeli air strikes on a densely populated area of the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
The tunnels under the cramped enclave are a prime objective for Israel as it expands a four-day-old ground offensive – after three weeks of aerial bombardment – into Gaza from the north to hit Hamas in retaliation for the Islamist group’s deadly surprise attack into southern Israel on Oct. 7.
Some of the 240 hostages that Israel says were seized by Hamas that day are believed to be held in the tunnel complex, adding a further complication for the Israelis on top of the difficulties of fighting in an urban setting. /Reuters
