Israel Launches New Attack On Gaza, UNRWA Chief: 400,000 People Trapped In North

Israeli tanks operate in the Gaza Strip. (Source: Israel Defense Forces)

JAKARTA - At least 60 people died as a result of an Israeli military attack on the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, Palestinian medics said, during the attack in the northern region.

The Israeli military said the raid, which is now entering its fifth day, was meant to stop Hamas fighters from launching further attacks from Jabalia and to prevent them from gathering again.

Israel itself is known to have repeatedly issued evacuation orders to the residents of Jabalia and surrounding areas. However, Palestinian officials and the United Nations say there is no safe place to escape in the Gaza Strip.

"At least 400,000 people are trapped in the area," the head of the UN Assistance Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) said in a post on X.

Medics said Israeli attacks killed at least 15 people inside Al-Yemen Al-Saeed Hospital in Jabalia. The hospital accommodates families who have fled and live in tents.

Meanwhile, Gaza's Ministry of Health said the army had ordered three hospitals in northern Gaza to be evacuated, while hundreds of patients and medics were trapped inside the facilities.

"The lives of dozens of patients are threatened by the Israeli siege around the hospitals," the ministry said.

The Israeli military said Hamas militants used residential areas as shelters in densely populated Gaza, including schools and hospitals. Hamas firmly denied the allegations.

Gaza health officials said at least 32 people had died in Jabalia and surrounding areas in the north, while others had died in the central and southern Gaza Strip. There was no immediate comment from Israel on the attack on Wednesday.

Gaza's Hamas-run state media office said at least 125 Palestinians had died in the northern Gaza region in the past five days.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Civil Emergency Services said they had received unconfirmed reports that dozens of Palestinians may have died in Jabalia and other areas of northern Gaza, but were unable to reach them due to Israeli bombings.

Gaza's health authorities on Wednesday announced the death toll from the Israeli attack since the latest conflict broke out on October 7, 2023, had reached 42,010, while injuries reached 97,720, the majority of children and women, quoted from WAFA.