Hamas says dozens killed in Israeli operation in Gaza

Jabalia, Palestinian Territories – AFP

The Gaza health ministry on Saturday said dozens of Palestinians were killed this week and publicly “executed” during an Israeli military operation in the north of the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli “massacre resulted in the death of dozens” of people in the Jabalia camp and Jabalia town, ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said in a statement.

“They also executed dozens of citizens in the streets,” he added.

When contacted by AFP, the Israeli army did not directly comment on the allegations but said it ensures that its “strikes against military targets comply with the provisions of international law”.

According to videos broadcast by local media, which AFP was unable to independently verify, decomposing bodies were seen strewn on the streets of Jabalia.

In Beit Lahia, a city in the north of the Gaza Strip, the civil defence authority said it had found on Saturday “dozens of decomposing bodies”.

“Most of the bodies recovered in Beit Lahia were executed in the streets and mauled by dogs,” it said.

On Wednesday, the United Nations human rights office said it received “disturbing” reports that Israeli troops “summarily killed” at least 11 unarmed Palestinians in a possible war crime in Gaza.

The killings were alleged to have been carried out in the Rimal neighbourhood of Gaza City this week, it added.

An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, rejected the allegations as “yet another example of the partisan and prejudiced approach against Israel” by the UN body.

AFPTV footage shows one body buried under rubble in Jabalia and massive destruction in various parts of the city.

Israel has been under increasing pressure from allies, including the United States, which provides it with billions of dollars in military aid, to protect civilians in its war on Gaza.