The refugee camp in Jabaliya is one of Gaza’s most densely populated, and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claim that Ibrahim Biari was hiding among the innocent civilians there. According to the IDF, fighter jets were targeting Biari, who was behind a number of attacks, including the October 7 massacre that murdered 1,400 people and took hundreds hostage.
Although the IDF points out that it issued repeated warnings to the Palestinians living in the camp to evacuate on account of the presence of Hamas operatives there, those who wanted to heed the warnings likely had nowhere to go; there have also been reports of Hamas blocking civilians from evacuating in hopes of using them as human shields.
Israel decided to strike anyway, taking out numerous innocent people, and their response to it has been callous, essentially shrugging it off and calling the loss of civilian life “the tragedy of war.” They maintain that numerous Hamas terrorists were killed in the strike.
IDF Spokesperson Doron Spielman told Fox News host Martha MacCallum: "My heart goes out to the civilians [who were killed]. But we have to ask the question, why was this Hamas battalion commander literally operating underneath a civilian area?"
He continued: "It goes to show exactly what we're trying to face. They have no concern for the civilians and we're trying to defend our own civilians and eliminate them while trying to minimize when [sic] possible damage to their own civilians."
Bodies strewn everywhere as rescuers dig through rubble in search of survivors
At least 50 people have been reported dead so far and hundreds are injured, but the death toll is widely expected to increase in the coming days. Images and video from the aftermath of the strike depict an apocalyptic scene with volunteers searching frantically through concrete debris for survivors, pulling victims from the rubble. Witnesses described seeing children carrying other injured children, with bodies strewn everywhere.
One witness told CNN: “There were seven to eight huge holes in the ground, full of killed people, body parts all over the place. It felt like the end of the world.”
This latest attack on innocent lives will only serve to heighten growing tensions in the area, especially as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated his stance that there will be no ceasefire.
In an address on Monday night, he stated: "Calls for a ceasefire or calls for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorists, to surrender to barbarism, that will not happen."
Refugee camp strike condemned around the world
Israel’s response to Hamas was condemned by B’tselem, an Israeli human rights organization, who said in a statement: “More than 8,000 people have been killed so far, more than half of them women and children. Entire buildings have collapsed with occupants still inside. Whole families have been wiped out in an instant. This criminal harm to civilians is intolerable and the obvious needs to be stated again and again – not everything is allowed in war, including war on Hamas.”
It was also condemned by Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Iran. Bolivia has now cut diplomatic ties with Israel over what it believes are “aggressive and disproportionate” actions in the Gaza Strip, and Chile has recalled its ambassador for consultations over international humanitarian law violations.
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