Israel Eliminates Key Hamas Leader Ibrahim Bari but Bombs Gaza’s Largest Refugee Camp Killing Dozens

The Hamas-run health ministry on Tuesday said dozens of people were killed in Israeli bombing of Gaza’s largest refugee camp, the Jabalia refugee camp. Israel’s army, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), confirmed that it struck the refugee camp to eliminate key Hamas commander Ibrahim Bari who was majorly involved in the October 7 attacks.

A report by the AFP said that volunteers were clawing through concrete blocks and twisted metal at the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza looking for bodies and survivors. Journalists of the news agency confirmed that at least 47 dead bodies were recovered.

“We ask the world to show sympathy for the children to stop these massacres,” Yusef Hijazi, the grandfather of one victim, told AFP.

“A short while ago, IDF warplanes… assassinated Ibrahim Biari, commander of the Jabalia brigade of the Hamas terrorist organisation, who was one of those who directed the murderous terrorist attack on October 7,” the Israeli army said in a statement.

“After the attack, Hamas’ underground military infrastructure beneath these buildings collapsed (and killed) many Hamas terrorists,” it added.

The Hamas terrorist group’s military wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, vowed to turn Gaza into a “graveyard” for Israeli troops but did not comment on the claim.

The Gazan health ministry, run by Hamas, gave an initial toll of more than 50 dead and 150 wounded. They said that dozens more were likely buried under the rubble while denouncing what it called “a heinous Israeli massacre” at the camp.

Egypt condemned Israel and said that it would open the Rafah crossing to treat wounded Palestinians. This move means it would be the first time it has agreed to

open the border to civilians since the conflict between Hamas and Israel broke out.

Qatar warned that such an attack would “undermine mediation and de-escalation efforts” and warned against such expanded attacks. Qatar is a key mediator in the crisis.

The strike came after a day of fierce battles between Israeli ground troops and militants in northern Gaza as Israel pressed its mission to “crush” Hamas after its militants went on a rampage killing 1,400 people, according to Israeli officials, in the worst attack in the country’s history.

Since then, Israel has hit back with an unstinting aerial bombardment, which the health ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza says has now killed more than 8,500 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and children.

Wails, Dust Fill The Air at Jabalia Refugee Camp

Hundreds of Palestinians swarmed over several large craters punched into the ground, searching through the rubble for survivors as night fell. The refugee camp is home to 116,000 people in an area covering 1.4 square kilometres. A camp resident told the news agency that the explosion was like “an earthquake”.

Global leaders have raised the alarm over the rising bloodshed and mounting humanitarian crisis in Gaza where several hours before the strikes, the health ministry gave a toll of 8,525 dead, among them 3,542 children and 2,187 women.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brushed aside an appeal made by 120 nations and said appeals for ceasefire were calls “for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorism, to surrender to barbarism”.

“We want to live like any other people in this world, to live quietly. We don’t know what to do. The least they can do is give us a truce, give us three hours, a temporary truce or a ceasefire,” Gaza City resident Ahmed al-Kahlout was quoted as saying by the news agency.