Civilians trapped in northern Gaza amid airstrikes and reports of close-quarters combat

Tens of thousands of civilians are still trapped in Jabalia in northern Gaza by a major Israeli offensive against Hamas militants, who have returned to the neighbourhood in recent months.

The Israeli military says it has killed more than 50 fighters over the past days in airstrikes and close-quarters combat as troops try to destroy Hamas forces.

Israel has ordered people to evacuate to what are supposedly safer areas in the south, fuelling fears among Palestinians that it aims to remove them from northern Gaza permanently as part of a plan to control the territory. Many refused to comply, or were unable to move.

Israel has denied the evacuation orders are part of a systematic clearance plan, saying they have been issued to ensure people’s safety and separate them from militants. It accuses Hamas of using civilians as human shields, a charge Hamas denies.

Hospitals have received about 350 bodies since the offensive in Jabalia began on 6 October, according to Dr Munir al-Boursh, the director general of Gaza’s health ministry. He said more than half of the dead were women and children, and many bodies remained in the streets and under the rubble, with rescue teams unable to reach them because of Israeli strikes. “Entire families have disappeared,” he said.

Palestinian health officials called for a humanitarian corridor to the Kamal Adwan, Al-Awda and Indonesian hospitals in northern Gaza, where doctors have refused to leave their patients, despite Israel’s evacuation orders. “We are calling on the international community, the Red Cross and the World Health Organization to play their humanitarian role by opening up a corridor towards our healthcare system and allow the entry of fuel, medical, delegations, supplies and food,” said Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of the Kamal Adwan hospital.

“We are talking about more than 300 medical staff working at Kamal Adwan hospital, and we can’t provide even a single meal for them to be able to offer medical services safely,” he said.

Earlier this week, a White House national security council spokesperson said Israel had a responsibility to do more to ensure civilians were not harmed by its attacks against Hamas, after footage was posted on social media of what appeared to be Palestinians burning alive in tents set ablaze by missiles fired at the Al-Aqsa hospital in the city of Deir Al-Balah. Israel said Monday’s strike, which killed at least four people and wounded dozens of others, targeted Hamas militants.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said on Wednesday that at least 42,409 people have been killed in the war between Israel and Palestinian militants. The offensive has left large areas in ruins and displaced about 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people, forcing hundreds of thousands into crowded tent camps or schools turned into shelters.

Israeli warplanes separately struck targets in southern Lebanon and Beirut on Wednesday, as it continued to press its air and ground offensive there, despite mounting civilian casualties and more than a million people now displaced.

The strikes in Beirut came six days after Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, said the US had given him assurances that Israel would curb its strikes on the capital.

Lebanon’s health ministry reported that five people were killed in a strike on a municipal building in Beirut, adding that efforts were still underway to remove debris.

Hezbollah, a militant Islamist movement backed by Iran, has a strong presence both in the southern neighbourhoods of Beirut, known as the Dahiyeh, and in southern Lebanon.

The mayor of the city of Nabatiyeh was killed in an Israeli strike on Wednesday and major damage was done to a historic market. Four other people were reported to have died in the attack, but the exact number is unclear.

In a statement, Mikati said the strike had deliberately targeted a meeting of the municipal council that was discussing the city’s services and relief situation. Israeli military officials said the attacks had targeted Hezbollah.