Nearly 100 people, including children, have been killed in a large-scale Israeli military operation launched early Friday in north Gaza, according to the Hamas-run civil defence and local residents.
The attack, involving coordinated ground, air, and sea strikes, marks the most intense ground offensive in northern Gaza since Israel resumed its campaign in March.
The civil defence reported that at least nine homes and tents sheltering civilians were bombed overnight, with dozens of distress calls coming from those trapped under rubble.
Witnesses described scenes of chaos and destruction in the town of Beit Lahia, where smoke bombs, artillery shelling, and tank movements were observed.
Basheer al-Ghandour, who fled from Beit Lahia to Jabalia, recounted the sudden intensity of the bombardment. “People were asleep when the intense bombing started — it came from all sides: air strikes and warships. My brother’s house collapsed.
There were 25 people inside,” he told the BBC. Among the casualties were five family members, including children aged five, 15, and 18. Rescuers, including al-Ghandour and other relatives, struggled to free survivors from the wreckage, but his sister-in-law remains missing beneath the debris.
Another survivor, Yousif Salem, described escaping death with his three children after an air strike hit their neighbors’ home, killing all inside.
“Artillery shells began hitting near our house as we were trapped. When I tried to leave, a drone fired at us. We escaped only minutes before Israeli tanks surrounded the area,” he said.
According to local sources, the attack began with smoke bomb barrages followed by heavy artillery shelling from nearby Israeli positions, before tanks advanced toward the Al-Salateen neighborhood in western Beit Lahia.
Israeli armored vehicles reportedly encircled a school sheltering hundreds of displaced civilians. The Israeli military said it was “operating to locate and dismantle terrorist infrastructure sites” in north Gaza and claimed to have “eliminated several terrorists” over the past day.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they struck more than 150 “terror targets” across Gaza, including anti-tank missile posts and military centers where attacks against IDF troops were planned.
Early on Friday, Israeli aircraft dropped leaflets urging residents in northern Gaza to evacuate immediately, intensifying fears that the military operation was expanding into one of the most densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip.
This evacuation order triggered panic among families already displaced multiple times during the conflict, many with no safe place left to flee.
“I swear I don’t know where we’re going,” said Sana Marouf, fleeing Gaza City with her family on a donkey cart. “We don’t have mattresses, blankets, food or water. It was a black night. They were relentlessly bombing us.”
The attack comes amid a worsening humanitarian crisis. Israel has maintained a total blockade on Gaza since March, cutting off food, fuel, and aid. The UN and international aid organizations warn that the blockade is pushing Gaza’s 2.1 million residents to the brink of famine.
Despite this, Israeli officials assert that there is no food shortage, blaming Hamas for diverting aid. Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate, drawing concern from the US government and other international actors.
Israel launched its military campaign in response to a Hamas cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, which left about 1,200 Israelis dead and 251 hostages taken.
Since then, over 53,000 people have died in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Among those still held hostage in Gaza are 58 individuals, with up to 23 believed to be alive.
With no breakthrough in ceasefire negotiations and military operations intensifying, Gaza faces an increasingly uncertain and dire future.