Ali Assaf (C), 20, reportedly the only survivor from his family killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, is comforted by two young men as mourns near the bodies of his relatives in front of the al-Maamadani on October 12, 2024(Image: OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP via Getty Images)

Tánaiste to call for end of devastation in Gaza at Luxembourg summit as 22 killed in refugee camp

At least 22 people have been killed in an Israeli attack on the Jabalia refugee camp over the weekend in northern Gaza

13 Oct 2024, 11:42 by Ciara O'Loughlin · Irish Mirror

Tánaiste Micheál Martin will be raising Ireland’s “profound concern” of bringing an end to the devastation in northern Gaza at a meeting in Luxembourg on Monday.

At least 22 people have been killed in an Israeli attack on the Jabalia refugee camp over the weekend in northern Gaza. This includes women and children.

The mass killing occurred on Friday night when Israeli fighter jets bombed a multi-storey apartment block in Jabalia, according to local media. At least 30 people were injured in the attack and 14 people remain missing as it’s believed they are buried under the rubble.

The Tánaiste and Foreign Affairs Minister said he will be raising his concern about the latest attack at the Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg on Monday. In a statement, he said: “The horrific scenes unfolding in Jabalia, and northern Gaza must stop.

Tánaiste Micheal Martin(Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

“An offensive by the Israeli Defence Forces, backed by tanks and air strikes, has left dozens of civilians dead, many close to starvation, and access to humanitarian aid extremely curtailed. An entire population is being encircled and forced out, with nowhere for them to go. This represents a mass expulsion of people from their homeland.”

The Tánaiste has stressed this is a war crime, and leaders across the globe must do everything in their power to call for a ceasefire. He added: “It is a war crime, and the international community must use every lever at its disposal to pressure Israel to stop this war. The UN and the world’s media must be allowed immediate access to witness what is happening. This war must end.”

On Saturday, the Israeli military issued evacuation orders for northern Gaza. Residents near Jabalia were told to evacuate to the south of the enclave. The Israeli military launched a deadly offensive in the area a week ago. It claims the attack is aimed at stopping Hamas from regrouping.

Hamas slammed the army on Saturday, saying its “massacres are a continuation of the ongoing criminal genocide against our people, shielded by American support”.

Over the past year, Israeli forces have repeatedly returned to the built-up refugee camp in Jabalia. The Palestinians fear Israel intends to permanently depopulate the north to establish military bases or Jewish settlements.

This comes as a separate strike on the central Gaza strip hit a home in the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing a family of eight. Late on Saturday, parents and their six children - who ranged from eight to 23 - were killed. This is according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in nearby Deir al-Balah, where the bodies were taken.

More than a year into the war with Hamas, Israel continues to strike what it says are militant targets in Gaza nearly every day. The military says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames their deaths on Hamas and other armed groups because they operate in densely populated areas.

The military rarely comments on individual strikes, which often kill women and children. In recent months, it has repeatedly struck schools being used as shelters by displaced people, accusing militants of hiding among them. In southern Lebanon, a fifth UN peacekeeper has been injured as conflict continues to escalate. On Friday, a peacekeeper in Naqoura, Lebanon, was hit by gunfire due to ongoing military activity nearby.

He was taken to a nearby hospital to have the bullet removed and he is currently stable, a Unifil statement said. The Irish Defence Forces have confirmed that all Irish peacekeepers on the camp are well.

A statement said: “The Defence Forces can confirm that all our personnel deployed with UNIFIL are well and accounted for, and no Irish personnel were involved in this incident. Our personnel continue to adhere to all necessary force protection and risk mitigation measures.”

The Lebanese Red Cross said paramedics were searching for casualties in the wreckage of a house destroyed by an Israeli air strike in southern Lebanon on Sunday when a second strike left four paramedics with concussion and damaged two ambulances.

Palestinians walk during the evacuation of the Jabalia refugee camp and the Sheikh Radwan and Abu Iskandar neighborhoods in the northern Gaza Strip amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territories between Israel and Hamas(Image: Mahmoud Issa/Quds Net News via ZUMA Press Wire)

It said the rescue operation had been coordinated with UN peacekeepers, who informed the Israeli side. Israeli forces have repeatedly fired upon first responders and UN peacekeepers since the start of the ground operation. The military has accused Hezbollah - which is allied with Hamas - of using ambulances to ferry fighters and weapons, without providing evidence. Lebanon's Health Ministry denies the allegations.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Around 100 hostages are still being held in Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Israel's bombardment and ground invasions of Gaza have killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, and left much of the territory in ruins. Palestinian medical officials do not say whether those killed by Israeli forces are militants or civilians, but say women and children make up more than half the fatalities. Israel says it has killed more than 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.

Lebanon's Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on October 8, 2023, drawing retaliatory air strikes. The conflict dramatically escalated in September with a wave of Israeli strikes that killed Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and most of his senior commanders.

Israel launched a ground operation into southern Lebanon earlier this month. At least 2,255 people have been killed in Lebanon since the start of the conflict, including more than 1,400 people since September, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry, which also does not say how many were Hezbollah fighters.

At least 54 people have been killed in the rocket attacks on Israel, nearly half of them soldiers.

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