Gaza: Gaza’s largest refugee camp was hit by a series of powerful explosions on Tuesday, killing many people. The Israeli military claimed that the airstrikes that caused the explosions killed a Hamas commander linked to the October 7 attacks.
Internet and communications were cut off in the Gaza Strip today. “To our good people in the beloved country, we are sorry to announce that communications and internet services have been completely cut off in Gaza,” the Palestine Telecommunications Company (Paltel) said on X. The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing has vowed to turn Gaza into a “graveyard” for Israeli forces.
Humanitarian groups have condemned Israel’s attack on Jabalia refugee camp, saying the deadly air raid should be a “wake-up call” to world leaders to secure a ceasefire in Gaza.
While the director of the nearby Indonesian Hospital has said at least 50 people have been killed and many others wounded, the health ministry had reported 8,525 deaths, including 3,542 children and 2,187 women, just hours before the attack.
Egypt strongly denounced Israel’s “inhumane targeting of a residential block” and said it would open the Rafah border crossing to admit wounded Palestinians for medical treatment. This is the first time Cairo has agreed to open the crossing to civilians since the conflict began.
The airstrikes took place amidst international calls for an end to the violence and a worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will once again visit Israel on Friday. “Secretary Blinken will travel to Israel on Friday for meetings with members of the Israeli government, and then will make other stops in the region,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
Despite the death count rising, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly refused any avenue for a ceasefire, adding that such appeals were “a call for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorism, to surrender to barbarism”.