Israel defends massacre
Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht, speaking to CNN, confirmed the Israeli strike on Jabalia refugee camp, claiming without any proof that Israel was targeting a senior Hamas commander.
Hecht defended the civilian massacre at the site, stunning host Wolf Blitzer.
“But you know that there are a lot of refugees, a lot of innocent civilians — men, women, and children — in that refugee camp as well, right?” Blitzer asked Hecht.
“This is the tragedy of war, Wolf. We as you know, we’ve been saying for days, move south. Civilians who are not involved with Hamas, please move south,” Hecht replied.
Jabalia houses families of refugees from wars with Israel dating back to 1948. It is home to 116,000 people in an area covering 1.4 square kilometres (little more than half a square mile) — about the size of London’s Hyde Park.
‘Transporting remains of children… ‘
Ragheb Aqal, a Jabalia resident, described the strikes as “an earthquake” which shook the entire refugee camp.
“I went and saw the destruction… homes buried under the rubble and body parts and martyrs and wounded in huge numbers,” the 41-year-old said.
“There’s no exaggerating when they talk about hundreds of martyrs and wounded. People were still “transporting the remains of children, women and elderly”, he added.
Egypt lashed out at Israel’s “inhumane targeting of a residential block”. Sources said Cairo would open the Rafah crossing to treat wounded Palestinians in what would be the first time it has agreed to open the border to civilians since the conflict broke out.
Qatar, a key mediator in the crisis, condemned the Israeli attack on Jabalia and warned expanded strikes on the besieged Palestinian enclave would “undermine mediation and de-escalation efforts”.
Palestine Presidency said the Israeli crimes and atrocities “will not break the resolve of the Palestinian people.
“Instead, it said, they are determined to uphold their legitimate rights, resist the occupation, establish their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital, and ensure the right of return for refugees.”
Earlier on Tuesday, the Health Ministry in Gaza said 8,525 people have been killed in the narrow strip of land since Israel launched its bombing campaign on October 7.
The Israeli army has expanded its indiscriminate air and ground attacks on Gaza, which has been under relentless air strikes since the surprise operation by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas on October 7.
