Siege, killing and evacuation of hospitals in northern Gaza... Israeli genocide in Jabalia

For the fourth consecutive day, Palestinians in Jabalia camp, north of the Gaza Strip, are being subjected to an operation of "genocide and ethnic cleansing", as the Israeli army imposes a land blockade, carries out killings, blows up homes, and forced displacement that the residents reject, as part of its war on the Strip since October 7, 2023.

The residents insist on remaining in their homes and not being displaced to the southern Gaza Strip, despite the war of extermination and the intense military pressure exerted by the Israeli army, and its efforts to put the health system in the northern Gaza Strip out of service, after it asked the three hospitals operating there to evacuate within 24 hours.

The Israeli army also deliberately targets every moving target in the camp's streets, which has led to the killing of a number of citizens and the injury of others who were left bleeding without the ambulance crews being able to reach them due to the direct targeting.

On Sunday, the Israeli army announced the start of a ground military operation in Jabalia under the pretext of "preventing Hamas from regaining its strength in the area," hours after the start of a fierce attack on the eastern and western areas of the northern Gaza Strip, including Jabalia, which is the most violent since last May.

This is the third ground operation carried out by the Israeli army in the Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip since the beginning of the genocidal war on October 7, 2023.

On Monday, the Israeli army warned Palestinians to evacuate their homes in the town and camp of Jabalia and the towns of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip and head south through a "safe passage," while the Ministry of Interior and National Security in Gaza warned citizens against responding to this, considering it "deception and lies."

Thousands of residents of the northern Gaza Strip have been clinging to the option of staying in their homes and not being displaced to the southern areas, since October 14, 2023, when the Israeli army issued the first evacuation order to them.

Of the 1.2 million people who lived in the Gaza and North governorates, there are currently about 700,000 people who refused to move to the southern Gaza Strip, according to official Palestinian data.

Camp siege

Most of the axes surrounding Jabalia camp are witnessing an incursion by Israeli army forces, which imposed a siege on the area on Wednesday morning, according to eyewitnesses who spoke to Anadolu Agency.

Ghazi Al-Kafarna (24 years old), a displaced person at the “Shadia Abu Ghazaleh” school west of Jabalia camp, said: “Last night, Israeli vehicles advanced towards us from the west and reached the school gate and the main street of the Al-Faluja area.”

He added to Anadolu Agency that "Israeli vehicles blocked the main street that people were using to escape towards Gaza City with a huge earthen barrier."

He explained that "the advance of the vehicles in this manner has spread terror in the hearts of the citizens, but they have no choice now but to stay where they are because all the roads have become blocked."

The Palestinian refugee pointed out that "there is a shortage of food, drink and medicine for patients inside the shelters, where the Israeli occupation is practicing genocide and ethnic cleansing."

On the eastern axis of Jabalia camp, army vehicles have been present since the first day of the military operation, and have imposed a siege on that area and opened fire on anyone who moves, according to eyewitnesses who spoke to Anadolu Agency.

The Israeli forces advanced from the east towards the Jabalia Services Club, which is located on the southern border of the camp, and positioned themselves there to cut off the road leading to areas such as the Al-Jurn neighborhood, the town of Jabalia and its neighborhoods.

Dead everywhere

According to testimonies from citizens besieged in Jabalia camp to the Anadolu Agency correspondent, there are dozens of bodies lying in the streets of the camp, and ambulance crews are unable to reach them to retrieve them due to the army opening fire on anyone who moves.

Ahmed Ta'ima, who is still trapped inside a shelter on Al-Houja Street in the heart of Jabalia camp, said: "There are a number of martyrs still on the streets, and some of the injured have died because the ambulance crews were unable to reach them."

He added, "The movement of ambulances and civil defense crews has been almost non-existent for about two days because the occupation army deliberately targets every moving target in the Jabalia camp areas, in addition to the intensive flying of drones."

Ta'ima pointed out that "the besieged residents are making appeals every minute to the Red Cross to evacuate them, but there has been no response so far because the occupation refuses to coordinate their evacuation."

The young Palestinian believes that the reason for the Israeli army’s intensification of its strikes on the camp is “the steadfastness of the citizens and their rejection of the evacuation and displacement decisions towards the southern Gaza Strip that were issued since the beginning of the military operation.”

The spokesman for the Civil Defense Authority in Gaza, Mahmoud Basal, told Anadolu Agency: "The bodies of the martyrs are still in the streets of Jabalia camp and the northern Gaza Strip, and we cannot reach them due to the occupation targeting the ambulance and civil defense crews."

He added: "The humanitarian situation in the northern Gaza Strip is very dangerous with the tight siege imposed on the citizens, the prevention of the entry of water and food supplies, and the horrific massacres committed against civilians by the occupation soldiers."

Difficult health reality

On Tuesday evening, the Israeli army demanded that the Kamal Adwan, Indonesian, and Al-Awda hospitals operating in the northern Gaza Strip evacuate within 24 hours.

Director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, Hussam Abu Safiya, said: “The occupation forces asked us via a phone call to evacuate the hospital within 24 hours of patients, displaced persons and medical staff.”

He explained to Anadolu Agency that "the occupation is besieging Kamal Adwan Hospital with fire and is firing from its drones from time to time towards the buildings and the administration office."

Palestinian Mahmoud Abu Al-Jidyan (42 years old), who is besieged in Kamal Adwan Hospital with his injured brother Moaz, says that “evacuating the hospital is absolutely impossible in light of the Israeli targeting of every moving target.”

He added in his testimony to Anadolu Agency that "his brother suffers from an injury to his foot and abdomen, and he can only be transported by ambulance for fear of his life."

He pointed out that "the occupation forces are still refusing to coordinate for ambulances to safely exit Kamal Adwan Hospital and transfer the wounded to another hospital, according to what the medical teams reported."

Abu Al-Jidyan continued, "The army requested the evacuation of the hospital without providing a safe passage for citizens, the wounded, and medical staff."

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Health in Gaza called in a statement for “the need to provide serious protection for health institutions and their working staff, especially in the northern Gaza Strip,” warning that “hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip will stop working within hours due to the depletion of fuel.”

With American support, the Israeli genocidal war in Gaza, which has been ongoing since October 7, 2023, has resulted in more than 139,000 Palestinian deaths and injuries, and more than 10,000 missing persons, amid massive destruction and famine that has killed dozens of children and elderly people.

Tel Aviv continues the genocide, ignoring the UN Security Council resolution to end it immediately, and the International Court of Justice’s orders to take measures to prevent acts of “genocide” and improve the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Source: Anadolu Agency