FIERCE FIGHTING IN GAZA AS AID TRUCKS START TO ROLL OFF PIER
Israeli forces battle Hamas militants in Jabilia refugee camp as ‘tanks, planes wipe out everything’
Israeli forces have battled Hamas fighters in the narrow alleyways of Jabilia in northern Gaza in some of the fiercest engagements since they returned to the area a week ago, while in the south militants attacked tanks massing around Rafah.
Residents said Israeli armour on Friday had thrust as far as the market at the heart of Jabilia, the largest of Gaza’s eight historic refugee camps, and that bulldozers were demolishing homes and shops in the path of the advance.
“Tanks and planes are wiping out residential districts and markets, shops, restaurants, everything. It is all happening before the one-eyed world,” Ayman Rajab, a resident of western Jabilia, said via a chat app.
Israel had said its forces cleared Jabilia months earlier in the Gaza war, triggered by the deadly Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on October 7, but said last week it was returning to prevent Islamist militants regrouping there.
In southern Gaza bordering Egypt, thick smoke rose over Rafah, where an escalating Israeli assault has sent hundreds of thousands of people fleeing from what was one of the few remaining places of refuge.
“People are terrified and they’re trying to get away,” Jens Laerke, UN humanitarian office spokesperson, said in Geneva, adding that most were following orders to move north towards the coast but that there were no safe routes or destinations.
As the fighting raged, the US military said trucks started moving aid ashore from a temporary pier, the first to reach the besieged enclave by sea in weeks.
The World Food Programme, which expects food, water, shelter and medical supplies to arrive through the floating dock, said the aid was transported to its warehouses in Deir Al Balah in central Gaza and told partners it was ready for distribution.
The United Nations earlier reiterated that truck convoys by land – disrupted this month by the assault on Rafah – were still the most efficient way of getting aid in.
“To stave off the horrors of famine, we must use the fastest and most obvious route to reach the people of Gaza – and for that, we need access by land now,” deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said.
US aid was arriving in Cyprus for delivery to Gaza via the new pier, Washington said.
Hamas demanded an end to Israel’s siege and accused Washington of complicity with an
Israeli policy of “starvation and blockade”.
The White House said US national security adviser Jake Sullivan would visit Israel today and stress the need for a targeted offensive against Hamas militants rather than a full-scale assault on Rafah.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said troops killed more than 60 militants in Jabilia in recent days and located a weapons warehouse in a “divisional-level offensive”.
A divisional operation would typically involve several brigades of thousands of troops each, making it one of the biggest of the war.
“The 7th Brigade’s fire control centre directed dozens of air strikes, eliminated terrorists and destroyed terrorist infrastructure,” the IDF said.
Aid agencies have warned repeatedly of widespread hunger and dire shortages of fuel and medical supplies.
Israel says it must capture Rafah to destroy Hamas and ensure the country’s safety.
It said on Friday that its forces retrieved the bodies of three people killed at the Nova music festival in Israel on October 7 and taken into Gaza.
In response, Hamas said negotiations were the only way for Israel to retrieve hostages alive: “The enemy will not get its prisoners except as lifeless corpses or through an honourable exchange deal for our people and our resistance.”
Talks on a ceasefire have been at an impasse.