WATCH: Dozens killed in Israeli airstrike on Gaza refugee camp

At least one hundred people, many of them civilians, have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza’s largest refugee camp.

Wails filled the dusty air as volunteers clawed through the concrete blocks and twisted metal at the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza in a desperate search for bodies and survivors, with AFP video footage showing at least 47 corpses being recovered.

An Israeli military spokesperson defends the bombing of the Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp. Israel’s army confirmed it had targeted a Hamas commander involved in the October 7 attacks.

Jabalia bombing

Mohamed Abu Al-Qumsan, a broadcast engineer with Al Jazeera’s bureau in Gaza also lost 19 family members, including his father and two sisters, in Israeli air raids on the Jabalia refugee camp.

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Israel’s airstrikes have killed more than 8 000 Palestinians in Gaza since October 7 according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Footage showing the scene of the attack showed rescue workers and volunteers using their bare hands to dig through the rubble to try and reach those trapped beneath collapsed buildings.

Condemnation

Humanitarian groups have condemned Israel’s attack on Jabalia refugee camp, saying the air raid should be a “wake-up call” to world leaders to secure a ceasefire in Gaza.

Sources said Egypt would open the Rafah crossing to treat wounded Palestinians in what would be the first time it has agreed to open the border to civilians since the conflict broke out, according to AFP.

On Tuesday, United Nations (UN) Secretary General António Guterres shared his concern about the ongoing conflict and loss of lives.

“I am deeply alarmed by the intensification of the conflict between Israel and Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups in Gaza. With too many Israeli and Palestinian lives already lost, this escalation only increases the immense suffering of civilians.

“The level of humanitarian assistance that has been allowed into Gaza up to this point is completely inadequate. I reiterate my call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and for unimpeded access to be granted, consistently, safely and to scale,” Guterres said.

No to ceasefire

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed any chance of a ceasefire late Monday, saying such appeals were “a call for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorism, to surrender to barbarism”.

“This will not happen,” he said.

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