In a statement, the Israeli occupation army announced that it arrested 200 individuals, whom it described as militants, from Jabalia since the start of the military offensive in the area.

The Israeli army has also continued to deliberately displace Palestinian civilians from northern Gaza by intensifying aerial and artillery bombardment, putting hospitals out of service, and preventing the entry of food and medicine supplies, media reports said.

Moreover, Israel has continued to blow up homes and residential blocks in the Jabalia camp and Saftawi and Tuwam areas.

A mother and her child were killed in the Israeli bombing of a house in Jabalia early this morning, medical sources said.

Despite the bombing and massacres committed by the occupation in Jabalia and Beit Lahia, many citizens refused to leave their homes, WAFA news agency reported.

Across Gaza, 42 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes since the early hours of Wednesday, most of whom were in the northern part of the strip, medical sources told Al Jazeera.

An Al Jazeera correspondent reported that Israeli artillery shelled the northwestern areas of Rafah City, in southern Gaza, and that an Israeli airstrike targeted the southeast of Deir Al-Balah, in central Gaza.

Displaced families fleeing Israeli army operations in Jabalia in northern Gaza take the main Salah al-Din road towards Gaza City. AFP

Targeting civil defence
 

An Israeli drone in the Beit Lahia project injured three rescue workers early Thursday, according to WAFA.

Additionally, Israeli tanks targeted the only fire truck in northern Gaza, setting it ablaze.

Spokesperson for Civil Defence in the Gaza Strip Mahmoud Bassal stated that the Israeli forces arrested five of its members and took them to an unknown location.

Bassal confirmed to Al Jazeera that the work of the civil defence teams in the northern governorate has completely halted and that the situation there has become catastrophic.