Israel-Hamas war – live: IDF defends Jabalia strike amid claims dozens dead

The director of Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital told Al Jazeera that more than 50 Palestinians were killed and 150 wounded in the air strike in a densely populated area of the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.

The Israeli military said the strikes killed a large number of Hamas militants, including Ibrahim Biari, who it said oversaw operations in the northern part of the strip.

The Hamas-run Interior Ministry said at least six air strikes destroyed a number of apartment blocks in Jabaliya, and it reported a large number of casualties but did not immediately provide details.

Bolivia yesterday said it had broken diplomatic ties with Israel because of its attacks on the Gaza Strip.

Bolivia “decided to break diplomatic relations with the Israeli state in repudiation and condemnation of the aggressive and disproportionate Israeli military offensive taking place in the Gaza Strip,” deputy foreign minister Freddy Mamani said at a press conference.

Israel’s foreign ministry did not immediately issue a statement.

Bolivia is among the first countries to actively break diplomatic relations with Israel over its war in Gaza, retaliation for the 7 October attack in southern Israel by Palestinian Hamas militants who Israel says killed 1,400 people, including children, and took 240 people hostage.

Bolivia cut diplomatic ties with Israel in 2009 under the government of leftist president Evo Morales, also in protest against Israel’s actions in Gaza.

In 2020, the government of right-wing interim president Jeanine Anez reestablished ties.“We reject the war crimes being committed in Gaza. We support international initiatives to guarantee humanitarian aid, in compliance with international law,” Bolivian president Arce said on social media on Monday.

The United States has made “real progress” in the last few hours in negotiations to secure a safe passage for Americans and other foreigners who wish to depart the Gaza Strip, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Tuesday.

“While I can’t make an announcement today, we do think we’ve made very real progress on this as I said in just the past few hours,” Miller told a news briefing.

The United States has been working with Qataris and Egyptians to open the Rafah border crossing into Egypt to allow American citizens inside Gaza to leave after Israel intensified its bombardment of the densely populated coastal enclave.

So far, traffic at Rafah has reopened one way allowing aid trucks to go slowly into Gaza.

“We would hope that any agreement to get any individuals out would also unlock the possibility of American citizens or their families and other foreign nationals coming out,” Miller said.

Israel is defending its decision to launch an airstrike against Jabalia, a densely settled refugee camp in northern Gaza, claiming the operation was necessary and proportionate to go after an important Hamas commander.

The attack, which levelled buildings and left a massive crater, killed over 50 people, according to separate estimates from the health ministry in Gaza and the director of the local Indonesian Hospital, Al Jazeera reports. Civilians are among the dead, according to the health ministry.

At a briefing attended by The Independent, IDF officials said eliminating Hamas commander Ibrahim Biari justified the bombing.

“It was not only a legitimate military target but an important military target to strike – and all things were factored in including the possibility of non-combatants being affected,” IDF spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said at the briefing.

More details in our full story.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Israel on Friday for meetings with members of the government there and then make other stops in the region, the State Department said on Tuesday amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Palestinian health officials said earlier that at least 50 Palestinians were killed when Israeli airstrikes hit a refugee camp in northern Gaza on Tuesday, as Israeli ground forces battled Hamas gunmen based in a sprawling tunnel network.

“Secretary Blinken will travel to Israel on Friday for meetings with members of the Israeli government, and then will make other stops in the region,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

Earlier this month, Blinken visited Israel, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.

The Israeli military is defending its decision to launch a series of strikes on Jabalia in the Gaza Strip, which is home to a large refugee camp.

The bombing is estimated to have killed more than 50 people, according to estimates from Gaza’s health ministry and a local hospital director.

The IDF, in a briefing attended by The Independent’s Bel Trew, said the strike was necessary and proportionate to go after Hamas commander Ibrahim Biari, who Israeli officials say was a “pivotal” part of the 7 October cross-border Hamas attack that killed numerous Israeli civilians.

Israel said the militant died in the strike.

The “military objective was of high importance – and we assess that dozen of multiple Hamas operatives were killed,” IDF lieutenant colonel Jonathan Conricus said at the briefing. “Once we know more and have confirmed information about other casualties, if there are others and what their extent will be, I will be able to answer that.”

“Any collateral damage that may have been caused was because of the nature of the target the fact that [Hamas] had embedded and built a large underground complex in the vicinity of civilians,” he added. “You can see we struck in-between buildings.”

Follow more of our reporting on the unfolding war.

Two women arrested after the Metropolitan Police shared pictures of protesters with images of paragliders at a pro-Palestine rally have been released on bail.

Social media footage of a protest in Whitehall on October 14 showed a pair of women with the image taped to their tops, while a third held a placard with it.

Two women, aged 29 and 44, came forward after recognising themselves in the pictures, which were widely shared, the Met Police said.

They were arrested on suspicion of inviting support for a proscribed organisation and have since been released on bail until November.

Hamas, which is classed as a terrorist organisation in the UK, used paragliders as part of its attack on Israel on October 7 which left more than 1,000 Israelis dead.

Police are still looking for the third woman seen with the image of a paraglider on her top, as well as a man seen waving a placard with the words “I fully support Hamas”, during a protest on Bond Street on October 21.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken was repeatedly interrupted by protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza as he told a US Senate hearing that the Palestinian Authority should retake control of the enclave from Hamas. The president has said that the militant group should be eliminated and that he supports a two-state solution in the region.

Mr Blinken and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin testified about the White House’s $106bn funding request for national security, including $14.3bn for Israel.

Muslim American leaders are threatening to mobilise their supporters to withhold votes and donations for president Joe Biden’s presidential campaign unless he pushes for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The National Muslim Democratic Council, a coalition of Muslim community leaders and activists within the Democratic Party, announced in an open letter that it would “withhold endorsement, support, or votes for any candidate who endorses the Israeli offensive against the Palestinian people.”

The letter criticised the Biden administration’s “unconditional support, encompassing funding and armaments” to Israel, which it argued has “played a significant role in perpetuating the violence that is causing civilian casualties and has eroded trust in voters who previously put their faith in you.”