Israel Gaza war: Two Hamas leaders killed in Jabalia refugee camp strike, says IDF

Israel said its two days of strikes killed two Hamas military leaders in Jabalia, Gaza’s biggest refugee camp.

Israeli defence forces said the group had command centres and other “terror infrastructure under, around and within civilian buildings, intentionally endangering Gazan civilians”.

At least 195 Palestinians were killed in the most controversial Israeli airstrikes on the refugee camp, Gaza’s Hamas-run media office said.

Around 120 remain missing under the rubble and at least 777 people were wounded, it said in a statement.

UN human rights officials said strikes on the camp could be a “war crime”.

“Given the high number of civilian casualties and the scale of destruction following Israeli air strikes on Jabalia refugee camp, we have serious concerns that these are disproportionate attacks that could amount to war crimes,” the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on X.

Around 596 foreign and dual nationals from 15 countries will leave Gaza through Rafah crossing into Egypt today as the border will open for the second time today,

The Gaza Borders and Crossings Authority has released a list, that includes 400 American citizens.

The ministry said the people on the list would need to arrive at the crossing at 7am.

The list of foreign and dual nationals included people from the following countries:

• Azerbaijan, 8
• Belgium, 50
• Bahrain, 6
• Chad, 2
• Croatia, 23
• Greece, 24
• Hungary, 20
• Italy/United Nations, 4
• North Macedonia, 4
• Mexico, 2
• Netherlands, 20
• South Korea, 5
• Sri Lanka, 17
• Switzerland, 11
• United States, 400

US secretary of state Antony Blinken is departing today for Israel for his second visit to meet prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials.

During his meeting tomorrow, he will voice solidarity over the Hamas attack but also reassert the need to minimise Palestinian civilian casualties, his spokesperson said.

Mr Blinken will also stop in Jordan, one of a handful of Arab states to have normalised relations with Israel. But yesterday, Jordan withdrew its ambassador from Tel Aviv until Israel ends its assault on Gaza.

In Jordan, Mr Blinken will underscore the importance of protecting civilian lives and reiterate a US commitment to ensure Palestinians are not forcibly displaced from Gaza, a growing concern of the Arab world, the spokesman said.

He will pursue talks led by Egypt and Qatar on securing the release of all of the hostages held by Hamas.

Israel‘s military said its aircraft suffered “no damage” as it confirmed a missile launch by Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

Hezbollah yesterday said it shot down an Israeli drone over south Lebanon with a surface-to-air missile just after midnight over two villages on the Lebanese side of the frontier.

“It crashed and fell instantly,” it said.

The Israeli military said that a surface-to-air missile was launched from Lebanon toward one of its drones.

“In response, the (military) struck the terrorist cell that fired the missile and the launch site,” the military said in a statement, without saying who was behind the firing.

“There was no damage to the (drone),” the statement said.

More foreign nationals and injured Gazans are expected to leave the besieged Gaza Strip today as the Rafah crossing will open again.

At least 320 foreign citizens on an initial list of 500, as well as dozens of severely injured Gazans, crossed into Egypt yesterday under a deal among Israel, Egypt and Hamas.

Passport holders from Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Jordan, the United Kingdom and the United States were in the evacuation.

A diplomatic source said some 7,500 foreign passport holders would leave Gaza over about two weeks.

US president Joe Biden said there is a need for a humanitarian “pause” in the Israel-Hamas war after he was interrupted by a protester calling for ceasefire in Gaza.

Mr Biden was speaking to a crowd of supporters in Minneapolis about his reasons for running for president in 2020 when a woman got up and yelled: “Mr President, if you care about Jewish people, as a rabbi, I need you to call for a cease-fire.”

“I think we need a pause,” Mr Biden said.

Mr Biden’s latest remark was a subtle departure for the president and top White House aides, who throughout the Mideast crisis have been steadfast in stating they will not dictate how the Israelis carry out their military operations in response to the 7 October attack by Hamas.

The White House has refused to call for a cease-fire but has signaled that the Israelis should consider humanitarian pauses to allow civilians to receive aid and for foreign nationals trapped on the strip to leave Gaza.

“This is incredibly complicated for the Israelis,” Mr Biden added. “It’s incredibly complicated for the Muslim world as well. … I supported a two-state solution, I have from the very beginning.”

What you need to know about this critical linchpin for humanitarian aid:

Pope Francis has said on a two-state solution is needed for Israel and Palestine, and called for a special status for Jerusalem.

Francis also said he hoped a regional escalation could be avoided.

“(Those are) two peoples who have to live together. With that wise solution, two states. The Oslo accords, two well-defined states and Jerusalem with a special status,” he said in an interview with Italy’s RAI broadcaster.

In 1993, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organisation leader Yasser Arafat shook hands on the Oslo Accords establishing limited Palestinian autonomy.

US President Bill Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Arafat took part in the Camp David summit in 2000, but failed to reach a final peace deal.

“The war in the Holy Land frightens me,” Francis said. “How will these people end this story?”

An escalation, he said, “would mean the end of so many things and so many lives”.