At least 17 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the al-Bureij refugee camp and Jabalia town in Gaza, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported on Wednesday.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strikes but had warned residents of al-Bureij to evacuate ahead of an operation targeting militants firing rockets from the area. Overnight, the military confirmed the killing of Abd al-Hadi Sabah, a senior Hamas militant linked to the October 7, 2023, infiltration of Kibbutz Nir Oz in Israel.
The evacuation order for al-Bureij has triggered another wave of displacement, though the scale remains unclear. The ongoing Israeli military campaign, now in its third month, aims to prevent Hamas from regrouping. The military asserts that evacuation instructions are intended to protect civilians, but Palestinian and UN officials argue that nowhere in Gaza is safe and that forced displacements worsen the humanitarian crisis.
Flooding from heavy rains over the past two days has exacerbated the dire conditions for Gaza’s displaced population. More than 1,500 tents in displacement camps have been damaged or destroyed, leaving families exposed to the cold and unable to salvage their belongings.
In northern Gaza, much of Beit Hanoun, Jabalia, and Beit Lahiya has been razed, leading to speculation that Israel may convert the area into a buffer zone after the conflict ends. WAFA reported that residential blocks in Beit Lahiya and Jabalia were demolished, while tanks shelled parts of Gaza City and al-Bureij.
Since the start of Israel’s campaign, more than 45,500 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza’s health authorities. Nearly all of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been displaced, and the enclave is in ruins. The conflict was triggered by Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel, which left 1,200 Israelis dead and 251 taken hostage.