Israeli forces intensified their bombardment across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, ordering more evacuations that have created a fresh wave of displacement from northern Gaza. Many Palestinians fear they may never be able to return to their homes.
In Gaza City, Palestinian health officials reported that at least 10 people were killed and several others wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a school in the Shati refugee camp that was housing displaced families.
As Israeli tanks advanced into Beit Lahiya, marking a month since the new offensive began in northern Gaza, dozens of families were seen fleeing the area. “After they displaced most or all of the people in Jabalia, now they are bombing everywhere, killing people on the roads and inside their houses to force everyone out,” said Ahmed, a displaced man who spoke to Reuters via a chat app, providing only his first name out of fear of repercussions.
Palestinian officials accuse Israel of carrying out a plan of “ethnic cleansing.” Residents report that no aid has entered Jabalia, Beit Lahiya, or Beit Hanoun since the operation began on October 5.
In response, the Israeli military stated that it was compelled to clear Jabalia and began clearing nearby Beit Lahiya on Wednesday to confront Hamas militants, who they claim have regrouped in these areas.
Meanwhile, tensions escalated on Israel’s northern border as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah continued. On Thursday, eight people were killed and 22 others injured as Israeli airstrikes targeted multiple areas in Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency.
In the Harfouche area of Baalbek, an airstrike claimed the life of a woman. In a separate incident, an Israeli drone attack near an army checkpoint in Sidon killed three people and injured three Lebanese soldiers and five United Nations peacekeepers with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.
