ISRAELI forces continued their assault on Gaza today.

Israel has been carrying out a major operation for more than a week in Jabaliya, a refugee camp in the territory’s north dating back to 1948’s expulsion of 750,000 Palestinians from their homes as the state of Israel was established.

Israeli forces have repeatedly returned to Jabaliya and other areas after failing to crush Hamas which they claim is regrouping in the area.

Hospitals have received about 350 bodies since the Israeli offensive began on October 6, according to Dr Mounir al-Boursh, the director-general of Gaza’s Health Ministry.

He told reporters that more than half the dead were women and children, and that many bodies remain in the streets and under the rubble, with rescue teams unable to reach them because of Israeli strikes. 

Dr Boursh said: “Entire families have disappeared.”

Israel’s deadly retaliation against the Palestinians has killed over 42,000 people, according to the Health Ministry. The offensive has left large areas of the enclave in ruins and about 90 per cent of Gaza’s 2.3 million population displaced.

Hundreds of thousands have been forced into crowded tent camps or schools turned into shelters, many of which have been attacked by Israeli forces.

Earlier this week Israeli forces killed at least four people and injured dozens when they targeted a tent camp at the al-Aqsa Hospital compound in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza and set off a deadly firestorm, burning patients to death in their beds.

One mother called it “one of the worst scenes we’ve witnessed,” while an injured girl said she heard screaming as people tore down their tent to get them out. 

The Israeli military said it had targeted Hamas fighters operating inside a command centre in the car park.

Charity Doctors without Borders, which has staff working at al-Aqsa, told the BBC “the hospital functions as a hospital.”

Israel’s invasion of Gaza began after Hamas carried out a surprise attack on October 7 last year during which 1,139 people were killed and another 250 were abducted.