CNN —
The Israeli military announced it had laid siege to Jabaliya in northern Gaza and launched a new ground operation after seeing signs of Hamas rebuilding despite nearly a year of fighting and strikes in the area.
Israel continues its operations across Gaza, refocusing on areas it previously claimed to have cleared of Hamas, as attention shifts to Lebanon after Israeli forces escalate attacks on the militant group Hezbollah. are.
Elsewhere in the Gaza Strip, at least 25 people were confirmed dead after Israeli airstrikes hit mosques and schools in central Gaza, hospital officials said. Israel said Hamas was embedded in both buildings.
Israel carried out airstrikes in northern Gaza overnight from Saturday to Sunday, also targeting what the military claimed were “weapons storage facilities, underground infrastructure facilities, terrorist cells, and additional military infrastructure facilities.” Ta.
The military said in a statement that it had detected the presence of Hamas members and their efforts to “rebuild operational capabilities in the area” and was proceeding with “dismantling” operations.
Hamas' military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, said it was engaged in “heavy fighting” with Israeli forces in northern Gaza.
Jabaliya is a densely populated refugee camp that was one of the first targets in Israel’s response to the October 7 Hamas attack a year ago.
Dozens of families in the area packed up their belongings and fled again after Israeli military warnings of a new ground operation in Jabaliya, home to Gaza’s largest refugee camp.
The Israeli military has issued new evacuation orders for residents of northern Gaza, adding that it has expanded the scope of the “humanitarian zone” in al-Mawashi.
“This morning, people left their homes with simple belongings, but they don’t know where to go. They don’t have transportation,” Beit Lahiya resident Abu Ala Assaf told CNN.
“We heard explosions all night long, as if a war had started today,” Assaf said.
Some residents of northern Gaza are refusing to move, saying there is no safe place left in the enclave.
Mohammad Ibrahim, 36, from Jabaliya, told CNN: There is no safe place in Gaza and death is the same everywhere. ”
Jabaliya is home to Palestinians who were repeatedly forced to flee during the Israel-Gaza conflict. The camp has already been targeted by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) several times during the war.
CNN reported in May that Israeli forces had resumed fighting in northern Gaza, where they claimed to have dismantled Hamas’ chain of command in January. During this time, the Israeli military announced that Hamas was attempting to “regroup” in the region, raising questions about whether Israel’s goal of eradicating Hamas in the enclave was realistic.
In separate incidents in central Gaza, a mosque was targeted by Israeli forces early Sunday, killing at least 25 people, and an attack on a school also killed four people, hospital officials said.
CNN video showed chaotic scenes of bodies being pulled from the rubble after an overnight attack on a religious site in Deir El Bala where Palestinians had taken refuge.
“The mosque was a haven for displaced people. There were no militants or anything inside,” said Nabil Nadda, who was nearby at the time of the strike. “These are people who have no shelter, no tents, no homes, and have taken refuge in mosques.”
The Israeli military confirmed the airstrikes on both sites, saying they were “precise” strikes and targeted Hamas’ “command and control” centers.
The new fighting came on the eve of the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack in which Hamas killed about 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages in Israel.
Continued Israeli military attacks in the Gaza Strip, which Israel says are aimed at destroying Hamas, have killed more than 41,000 people and created a humanitarian crisis.
