GAZA CITY — Thousands of residents in Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp are trapped as Israeli forces escalate attacks in northern Gaza, Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) reported on Friday. The strikes come a week after Israel launched an offensive in the area, claiming it aims to prevent Hamas from regrouping.
At least 20 Palestinians were killed late Friday in Jabalia, with dozens more wounded and four homes destroyed, according to medics. The death toll is expected to rise, they warned. Across the Gaza Strip, Israeli airstrikes on Friday killed at least 61 Palestinians, with nearly half of the fatalities reported in Jabalia, the largest and most densely populated of Gaza’s historic refugee camps.
The Israeli military stated it has targeted and killed dozens of militants in Jabalia, but it remains unclear how many of the casualties were civilians. “Nobody is allowed to get in or out; anyone who tries is getting shot,” said Sarah Vuylsteke, an MSF project coordinator, in a post on X. She noted that five MSF staff members are currently trapped in Jabalia.
Haydar, an MSF driver trapped in the camp, described dire conditions: “People are starving. I am afraid to stay, and I am also afraid to leave,” he said, according to Vuylsteke.
Since dawn on Friday, at least 15 more deaths in Jabalia were attributed to airstrikes, including one that hit a school sheltering displaced people, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. Gaza’s Civil Defense added that Israeli quadcopter drones fired on the same school, wounding dozens.
Israeli forces have expanded ground operations into Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahiya, and Jabalia, with Hamas vowing to continue fighting. Palestinian health officials report at least 130 deaths across northern Gaza since the offensive began, while the Israeli military has issued evacuation orders to residents in the region, where the United Nations estimates that over 400,000 people are trapped.
The United Nations raised concerns that Israel’s intensified military operations and evacuation orders could disrupt a planned polio vaccination campaign in Gaza. The campaign’s first phase was carried out last month after the detection of a polio case—the first in 25 years. With dozens of healthcare facilities in Gaza now under evacuation orders, aid efforts are increasingly jeopardized.
