On October 28, the Israeli army intensified its ground operations in the Gaza Strip. This considerable troop movement was preceded and then accompanied by massive bombings of this territory controlled by Hamas since 2007 and where, before the start of this new cycle of violence, 2.23 million people lived.
The first bombings began the day after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, which left more than 1,400 dead while 238 hostages remain in the hands of the Islamists. In the Gaza Strip, which was subsequently subjected to a total siege contrary to international law, the response resulted in widespread destruction. The density of the enclave – 6,000 inhabitants per square kilometer on average, or even more in certain towns – makes it impossible for the population to escape the strikes.
Israel, which ordered civilians to evacuate the north of the strip on October 13, justifies these bombings by the desire to target the underground military infrastructure that Hamas has built by sheltering under the densely inhabited areas of the strip. enclave, where there are hospitals, mosques and schools in which the population has sought refuge. In twenty-six days of bombing, “more than 11,000 targets belonging to terrorist organizations” were struck, according to the count provided on November 1 by the Israeli army.
In the Gaza Strip, bombings have already caused the deaths of 9,257 people, according to the toll provided on November 3 by the Ministry of Health in Gaza, under the authority of Hamas, which cannot be independently verified. Two thirds of the dead are women and children, and more than 2,100 people are missing, buried under the rubble, according to the same source. The Ministry of Housing, for its part, reports 45% of homes in the area destroyed or damaged.
On October 29, the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), Antonio Guterres, warned of the “humanitarian catastrophe unfolding” in the Gaza Strip, denouncing the “incessant bombings” suffered by more than two million people, “ with nowhere safe to go.” He then declared himself “appalled” by the strikes on the Jabaliya refugee camp. The Israeli army bombed it twice, on October 31 and again on November 1, targeting the underground command post of the local military official for Hamas, Ibrahim Biari, a mid-ranking officer, presented by Israel as one those responsible for the October 7 attack. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, 195 people were killed in these strikes, and 120 disappeared under the rubble. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, expressed “serious concerns that these are disproportionate attacks which could constitute war crimes”.