More than 50 die in air strike at refugee camp Hamas commander as Israel says jets killed

ISRAELI jets pounded a refugee camp near Gaza City yesterday levelling buildings as ground troops battled Hamas terrorists across the north of the Palestinian territory.

- Giles Sheldrick

At least 50 people were killed at Jabalia, the largest of eight camps in the Gaza Strip, the Hamas-run interior ministry claimed.

The nearby Indonesian hospital said 150 were also wounded.

Pictures showed a massive crater with dozens of bodies recovered from the rubble, many of them children. Israel confirmed it carried out the strike, saying it was focused on Hamas infrastructure "that had taken over civilian buildings".

The Israel Defence Forces said they killed a large number of the jihadists, including senior commander Ibrahim Biari, who oversaw operations in northern Gaza.

The military claimed the attack also caused the collapse of Hamas's underground infrastructure which was targeting Israeli forces.

Ragheb Aqal, a resident of the camp, described the impact of the missile as "an earthquake" which shook the entire camp.

The 41-year-old said: "I went and saw the destruction, homes buried under rubble body parts, martyrs and wounded in huge numbers."

He added that people were still "transporting the remains of children, women and elderly".

IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said Hamas continued to use the civilian population as shields intentionally "and in a very cruel and brutal manner".