MOUNTING DEATH TOLL
Gaza’s civil defence agency said at least 69 people have been killed in the military operation in Jabalia, while many remained trapped under the wreckage of bombed-out houses.
The Israeli military has defended the campaign, saying its forces were targeting “terrorists embedded inside civilian areas”, and accusing Hamas of preventing residents from fleeing.
Thuraya Taha Asaliya – who has been displaced seven times since the war began and is currently in the Beit Hanoun area of northern Gaza – said her husband was stuck in Jabalia.
“He is trapped in the Jabalia Girls School,” said Asaliya, a 40-year-old housewife.
“There are tanks there and people cannot leave. The situation is difficult for them, there is no water or any other basic thing.”
