People mourn Mohammed al-Tanani, the cameraman of the Hamas-run al-Aqsa Satellite Channel, during his funeral in the northern Gaza Strip city of Jabalia, on Oct. 9, 2024. Palestinian medical sources reported that Israeli vehicles targeted the crew of the Hamas-run al-Aqsa Satellite Channel in the west of Jabalia camp, killing its cameraman, Mohammed al-Tanani, and critically wounding its reporter, Tamer Lobad. (Photo by Abdul Rahman Salama/Xinhua)
GAZA, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip has been under a tight Israeli siege for the fourth day in a row, as Israeli forces continued escalating attacks in the region, resulting in dozens of deaths and injuries and a mass exodus of residents, Palestinian sources and eyewitnesses have said.
Palestinian security sources told Xinhua that the Israeli army imposed a blockade on the Jabalia area, preventing the entry of food, water, and medicine.
According to the sources, the Israeli army is besieging a number of hospitals in the north and conducting raids near them.
On Sunday, Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee announced the "encirclement" of the Jabalia area, which came after the army received intelligence indicating the presence of armed elements and infrastructure, as well as "Hamas attempts to restore terrorist structures" in the area.
Israeli warplanes on Wednesday bombed a school and a hospital sheltering displaced people in Jabalia, as well as the refugee camp and some houses, while military vehicles fired at a gathering of Palestinians, including journalists, according to Palestinian sources and eyewitnesses.
The Hamas-run media office in Gaza said in a statement that the Israeli army is committing "crimes" against civilians in the north, especially in the Jabalia refugee camp.
Since Sunday, more than 125 people have been killed, and dozens of bodies are still lying on the streets, as ambulances and civil defense vehicles have been unable to reach them, the statement said, calling on the international community to intervene immediately to protect civilians.
Palestinian medical sources reported that Israeli vehicles targeted the crew of the Hamas-run al-Aqsa Satellite Channel in the west of Jabalia camp, killing its cameraman, Mohammed al-Tanani, and critically wounding its reporter, Tamer Lobad.
This is the third time that the Israeli army has launched a large-scale military operation in northern Gaza, during which the army attempted to force residents to flee to the south of the strip.
Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, said on social media platform X on Wednesday that at least 400,000 people are now trapped in northern Gaza.
"Recent evacuation orders from the Israeli authorities are forcing people to flee again and again, especially from the Jabalia camp," Lazzarini said. "Many are refusing because they know too well that no place anywhere in Gaza is safe."
Israel has been conducting a large-scale offensive against Hamas in response to a Hamas attack along the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023, which resulted in approximately 1,200 fatalities and around 250 hostages taken.
The ongoing Israeli assaults have raised the Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip to 42,010, according to local health authorities on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the total number of injured individuals in the enclave has reached 97,720. ■
People gather around the remain of Mohammed al-Tanani, the cameraman of the Hamas-run al-Aqsa Satellite Channel, during his funeral in the northern Gaza Strip city of Jabalia, on Oct. 9, 2024. Palestinian medical sources reported that Israeli vehicles targeted the crew of the Hamas-run al-Aqsa Satellite Channel in the west of Jabalia camp, killing its cameraman, Mohammed al-Tanani, and critically wounding its reporter, Tamer Lobad. (Photo by Abdul Rahman Salama/Xinhua)
