Israel has confirmed that it was behind an airstrike at the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, where the Hamas-run health authority has claimed more than 50 people have been killed and 150 wounded.
Israel Defence Forces’ (IDF) spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said that Israeli fighter jets carried out the attack, which he claimed killed a senior Hamas commander and caused the terror group’s underground infrastructure to collapse.
The IDF claimed that Ibrahim Biari, the commander of Hamas’s Central Jabaliya Battalion who they say was one of the leaders behind the October 7 massacre in Israel, was killed in the intense blast.
In a statement, the IDF said: ‘A short while ago, IDF fighter jets, acting on ISA intelligence, killed Ibrahim Biari, the Commander of Hamas’ Central Jabaliya Battalion. Biari was one of the leaders responsible for sending ‘Nukbha’ terrorist operatives to Israel to carry out the murderous terror attack on October 7th.’
Buildings have been levelled in the densely-populated neighbourhood, opening up huge sinkholes, with residents likening it to an earthquake and saying that the ground began to collapse around them.
Pictures show apocalyptic scenes, with scores of distraught onlookers gathered around two vast craters which some clambered into as they desperately searched for any survivors.
Meanwhile, dozens of white body bags have filled up the nearby streets, awaiting burial at the hospital near the encampment.
A Gazan health ministry statement said: ‘More than 50 martyrs and around 150 wounded and dozens under the rubble, in a heinous Israeli massacre that targeted a large area of homes in Jabalia camp in the northern Strip.’
Read More: Israel say they carried out airstrike that Hamas claim killed more than 50 people
