A Hamas commander—who Israel claimed orchestrated the Oct. 7 terror attack on the Jewish state—was killed in an airstrike on the densely populated Jabalia camp in Gaza, the Israeli military said on Oct. 31.
The exact number of casualties resulting from the strike is still unknown. The IDF said that “a large number of terrorists” were killed, and an underground Hamas installation beneath the buildings also collapsed.
According to the IDF, Mr. Biari was one of the Hamas leaders in charge of sending terrorist operatives to Israel to carry out the Oct. 7 attack, which killed more than 1,400 people. Hamas also took more than 200 hostages during the attack.
IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Mr. Biari was killed “while situating himself inside the camp.” The strike also caused the collapse of the buildings compound within the civilian camp.
“The strike on the compound additionally caused the collapse of the underground military infrastructure, including terror tunnels under the camp, which further caused the collapse of additional structures,” he said.
Mr. Hagari said that IDF soldiers had directed aircraft on the building “to strike the threat” and “eliminate the terrorists.”
“This building, like many locations that Hamas terrorists use as shelter, is a civilian structure, located in close proximity to a school, medical center, and government offices,” he said.
In the Jabalia camp, a densely built-up area of small streets on Gaza City’s outskirts, dozens of rescuers searched for survivors amid a series of obliterated buildings and others that had partially collapsed.
UN Calls for ‘Humanitarian Ceasefire’
UNICEF spokesperson James Elder reiterated calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire on Oct. 31 after more than 3,450 children were reportedly killed in Gaza, citing figures from the Gaza Health Ministry.
According to the U.N. Humanitarian Affairs Coordination Office, there are about 1,000 children reported missing in Gaza who may be trapped or dead under the rubble, awaiting rescue or recovery.
“Threats go beyond the bombs and mortars,” Mr. Elder stated, pointing out the “growing threat” of infant deaths caused by dehydration. He said Gaza’s water production is now at 5 percent of the required volume.
“Israel will not agree to a cessation of hostilities with Hamas after the horrific attacks of October 7,” the Israeli prime minister said in English remarks during an Oct. 30 press conference.
“Calls for a ceasefire are a call for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorism, to surrender to barbarism. That will not happen.”
Calls to halt the fighting between Israel and Hamas have spread throughout the international community. The U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) passed a nonbinding resolution last week for an “immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce” between Israel and Hamas; 120 nations voted in favor of that UNGA resolution, while 14 nations voted against it and 45 others abstained from voting.
