Ali Assaf (C), 20, reportedly the only survivor from his family killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, is comforted by two young men as mourns near the bodies of his relatives in front of the al-Maamadani October 2024.AFP
The strike in Gaza late Saturday hit a home in the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing parents and their six children, who ranged in age from 8 to 23, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in nearby Deir al-Balah, where the bodies were taken.
It said another seven people were wounded, including two women and a child in critical condition.
An Associated Press reporter counted the bodies and filmed funeral prayers held at the hospital.
Israel presses for full evacuation of northern Gaza
In northern Gaza, Israeli air and ground forces have been attacking Jabaliya, where the military claimes Hamas fighters have regrouped.
Over the past year, Israeli forces have repeatedly returned to the built-up refugee camp, and other hard-hit areas.
Israel has ordered the full evacuation of northern Gaza, including Gaza City.
Residents told the AP many were trapped in their homes and shelters with dwindling supplies while seeing bodies uncollected in the streets as the bombing hampered emergency responders.
Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee told people in parts of Jabaliya and Gaza City to evacuate south to an Israeli-designated humanitarian zone as Israel plans to use great force “and will continue to do so for a long time.”
Once again, some families moved south on foot, in donkey carts or crowded in vehicles that navigated piles of rubble. Others refused to go.
“It’s like the first days of the war,” said a Jabaliya resident, Ahmed Abu Goneim. “The occupation is doing everything to uproot us. But we will not leave.”
An estimated 400,000 people remain in the north after a mass evacuation ordered in the opening weeks of the war. The Palestinians fear Israel intends to permanently depopulate the north to establish military bases or Jewish settlements there.
The military confirmed Saturday that hospitals were included in the evacuation orders but said it had not set a specific timetable.
It said a medical convoy scheduled to transfer patients from the Kamal Adwan Hospital in recent days was canceled for security reasons — without elaborating — but that the convoy had delivered fuel to the hospital on Saturday.
The World Food Program said it was unclear how long the limited food supplies it distributed in northern Gaza earlier will last.
The U.N.’s independent investigator on the right to food last month accused Israel of carrying out a “starvation campaign” against Palestinians.
Israel's bombardment and ground invasions of Gaza have killed over 42,000 Palestinians and left much of the territory in ruins.Women and children make up over half the fatalities. Israel claims it has killed over 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.
This story was edited by Ahram Oline.
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