Israeli strikes kill at least 17 Palestinians in Gaza, WAFA reports

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli air strikes on al-Bureij refugee camp and Jabalia town in central and northern Gaza killed at least 17 Palestinians on Wednesday, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment although in a post on X, its Arabic spokesperson warned residents of al-Bureij earlier to evacuate ahead of an imminent strike against militants firing rockets from the area.

It also said overnight that it killed Abd al-Hadi Sabah, a Hamas militant who helped lead the infiltration into Kibbutz Nir Oz during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by the Islamist group on southern Israel.

The instruction to clear the al-Bureij camp has caused a new wave of displacement, although it was not immediately clear how many people were affected.

Israel says its almost three-month-old campaign in northern Gaza is aimed at preventing Hamas militants from regrouping. Its instructions to civilians to evacuate are meant to keep them out of harm’s way, the military says.

Palestinian and United Nations officials say no place is safe in Gaza and that evacuations worsen the humanitarian conditions of the population.

According to the Palestinian civil defence, more than 1,500 tents sheltering displaced people across Gaza were flooded by heavy rains over the past two days, leaving people exposed to the cold, their belongings damaged.

Hundreds more tents experienced less severe flooding that still left displaced people unable to use them.

Much of the area around the northern towns of Beit Hanoun, Jabalia and Beit Lahiya has been cleared of people and razed, fuelling speculation Israel intends to keep the area as a closed buffer zone after the fighting in Gaza ends.

WAFA said the military blew up residential blocks in Beit Lahiya and in and around Jabalia, while tanks shelled parts of Gaza City and the al-Bureij camp.

Israel’s Gaza campaign has killed more than 45,500 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-run enclave. Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced and much of the tiny coastal strip is in ruins.

The Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel killed 1,200 people, with another 251 taken hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.