The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) conducted an airstrike on a densely-populated refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday killing Hamas commander Ibrahim Biari, who allegedly was one of the planners of the October 7 attack.
At least 50 Palestinians were also killed in the attack, Reuters quoted Palestine health officials. Hamas also released a statement denying reports of Biari's killing, stating the "claim was just an Israeli pretext for killing civilians".
However, an IDF statement claimed the strike by fighter jets on Jabalia, Gaza's largest refugee camp, had killed Ibrahim Biari. "He was very important, I would say even pivotal in the planning and the execution of the October 7 attack against Israel from the northeastern parts of the Gaza Strip," IDF spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said. He added that dozens of Hamas combatants were in the same underground tunnel complex as Biari and were also killed when it collapsed in the attack.
🔴 IDF fighter jets eliminated Ibrahim Biari, Commander of Hamas' Central Jabaliya Battalion. Biari was one of the leaders responsible for the murderous terror attack on October 7th.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 31, 2023
The strike damaged Hamas’ command and control in the area and eliminated a large number of… pic.twitter.com/nfJImr5g50
The operation also involved ground forces taking control of a compound that the IDF said was used by Hamas’s Central Jabaliya Battalion, according to The Times of Israel. The IDF later claimed two soldiers were also dead in the operations.
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the two soldiers died "bravely in battle" as troops worked to capture a Hamas stronghold in Jabaliya. "This is complex close-quarters combat. In the fierce battles that took place today, we lost troops," he said. Hagari said troops were fighting terrorists heroically and courageously. "This is a dangerous conflict. It has a price," he said. "It is complex, but it is essential to our capacity to achieve the aims of the war."
The IDF also refuted the claims of Hamas that the killed were civilians, stating it called the residents of the area "to move south for their safety" before the raids. "The strike damaged Hamas’s command and control in the area, as well as its ability to direct military activity against IDF soldiers operating throughout the Gaza Strip," the army said in a statement.
Footage showed huge craters where buildings once stood. Rescue workers and bystanders were also seen digging through the wreckage, searching for survivors. Ragheb Aqal, a resident told the strikes resembled "an earthquake" as he recalled the horror at seeing "homes buried under the rubble and body parts and martyrs and wounded in huge numbers."
