More foreigners are preparing to leave the besieged Gaza Strip as its Hamas-run government said at least 195 Palestinians died in Israel's attacks on the Jabalia refugee camp.
At least 320 foreign citizens on an initial list of 500, as well as dozens of severely injured Gazans, crossed into Egypt on Wednesday under a deal among Israel, Egypt and Hamas.
Passport holders from Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Jordan, the United Kingdom and the United States were in the evacuation.
Gaza border officials said the border crossing would reopen on Thursday so more foreigners could exit. A diplomatic source said some 7500 foreign passport holders would leave Gaza over about two weeks.
Pressing an offensive against Hamas militants, Israel has bombed Gaza by land, sea and air in its campaign to wipe out Hamas after the Islamist group's cross-border rampage into southern Israel on October 7. Israel said Hamas killed 1400 people, mostly civilians, and took more than 200 hostages.
Israel has been bombarding the Gaza Strip in response to an attack by Hamas on October 7.
"Hamas deliberately builds its terror infrastructure under, around and within civilian buildings, intentionally endangering Gazan civilians," an Israeli statement said.
United Nations human rights officials said the operation could be a war crime.
"Given the high number of civilian casualties and the scale of destruction following Israeli air strikes on Jabalia refugee camp, we have serious concerns that these are disproportionate attacks that could amount to war crimes," the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights wrote on X.
There were no immediate figures from Gaza authorities on casualties from the explosion at the camp on Wednesday. Palestinian health officials said the first Israeli airstrike on Tuesday killed about 50 people and wounded 150.
Israel said Tuesday's strike killed Ibrahim Biari, who it described as a ringleader of the October 7 attack on Israel.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Israel and Jordan on Friday, the State Department said. He will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for an update on Israel's military objectives, it said.
Palestinians search for bodies and survivors following Israeli airstrikes on Al Falouja in Jabalia.
The Gaza health ministry says at least 8796 Palestinians in the narrow coastal enclave, including 3648 children, have been killed by Israeli strikes since October 7.
Explosions were heard in the early hours of Thursday around the al-Quds hospital in densely populated Gaza City, the Palestinian Red Crescent said. Israeli authorities had previously warned the hospital to evacuate immediately, which UN officials said was impossible without endangering patients.
Israel said its strikes on Tuesday and Wednesday killed two Hamas military leaders in Jabalia, Gaza's biggest refugee camp. Israel said the group had command centres and other "terror infrastructure under, around and within civilian buildings, intentionally endangering Gazan civilians".
Gaza's Hamas-run media office said on Thursday that at least 195 Palestinians were killed in the two Israeli attacks on Jabalia, with 120 missing under the rubble. At least 777 people were wounded, it said in a statement.
Statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the Foreign Media:— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) "The horrors that Hamas perpetrated on October 7th remind us that we will not realize the promise of a better future unless we, the civilized world, are willing to fight the barbarians."https://t.co/8QZPL9WvzT pic.twitter.com/1cgCegRgRDOctober 30, 2023
Amid growing international calls for a humanitarian pause in hostilities, conditions in the seaside enclave are increasingly desperate under Israel's assault and tightened blockade. Food, fuel, drinking water and medicine have run short.
Hospitals have struggled as shortages of fuel forced shutdowns including Gaza's only cancer hospital. Israel has refused to let humanitarian convoys bring in fuel, citing concern that Hamas fighters would divert it for military purposes.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to depart on Thursday for his second visit to Israel in less than a month. He plans to meet Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday to voice solidarity but also to reassert the need to minimise Palestinian civilian casualties, his spokesperson said.