Jabalia Steadfast in Face of Israeli Bombs

With the intensification of the Israeli bombing of northern Gaza and with a siege of more than 80 days now, especially of Jabalia, its camp and Beit Lahia, the resistance is using all available tools to counter the Israeli aggression despite  turning north Gaza into an eyesore of destruction and not a place for survival.

The resistance continues to show unparalleled bravery standing up Israeli soldiers who can be seen carrying their dead and wounded on a daily basis.

The Jabalia camp, one of the largest refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, reflects, with its history and reality, a miniature image of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Analysts point out the operations launched from Jabalia reflect the roots of the Palestinian struggle rooted in the camps since the Nakba in 1948.

“We are the ones who used to chase the Israeli patrol in our camp here (Jabalia) with the sticks”… This was one of the expressions used by martyr leader Nizar Rayyan inside the Jabalia camp. He was martyred in the first wars that the resistance fought with the Israeli occupation forces in 2008-2009, showing the bravery of the people of Jabalia and their legendary steadfastness in confronting the occupier.

 “Just as we rubbed your noses in Ashdod, we will rub your noses in Jabalia,” Rayyan used to say.

While the 444 days of this rabid war on Gaza Strip should have been enough to end the resistance – according to Israeli and American thinking – the Al-Qassam and Al-Quds Brigades fighters in Jabalia say this is wishful thinking even if thousands of Mujahideens are killed, and the weapons run out as the recent stabbing operations show. These operations shouldn’t be interperated to mean as some suggest that weapons are running out for the enemy’s daily losses are not decreasing while the capabilities of the resistance are rising.

The Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas military wing, announced Sunday, it targeted nine soldiers inside a house with a “TBG” shell west of Jabalia camp, confirming they have either been killed and/or wounded whilst stating it destroyed an Israeli troop carrier with a “commando” explosive device in the Al-Alami area in the center of Jabalia camp.

The brigades added that “a Zionist officer was sniped in Abu Al-Aish Street in the center of Jabalia camp, north of the Strip,” and said it targeted a second Israeli troop carrier with a “commando” explosive device west of Beit Lahia, north of the Strip.

As well last Friday, the Al-Qassam Brigades announced it carried out a complex operation in Jabalia camp; where one of its fighters advanced towards an Israeli sniper and his assistant, and stabbed them to death, adding the fighter wore the uniform of one of the dead, and an hour after the operation, he advanced towards an Israeli force of six individuals, and blew himself up with an explosive belt, killing and wounding its members.

Last Saturday, Al-Qassam Brigades announced on its Telegram channel its fighters carried out a complex operation, stabbing three Israeli soldiers to death, seizing their personal weapons, then storming a house where a foot force had taken cover, killing two of its soldiers at the house gate.

On Sunday, the Al Jihad Al-Quds Brigades stated that one of its heroic martyrs stormed a Zionist troop carrier and carried out a special operation by detonating a suicide bomb among the soldiers who were at the entrance to the Al-Awda Towers in Ezbet Beit Hanoun.

Military analyst Major-General Fayez Al-Duwairi says “zero distance” is a golden opportunity for resistance fighters in their confrontation with the occupation forces, given the big difference between the equipment of the Israeli army with its high capabilities, and the weapons made by al- mujahideen locally.

He added the more the intensity of the ground aggression and Israeli incursions into the Gaza Strip areas increases, the greater the resistance’s opportunity to engage directly with enemy forces.

Since the start of the Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood, the resistance fighters have shown the most prominent of their weapons to target the Israeli enemy, including Al-Yassin 105 shells, tandem shells, sniper weapons, Shawaaz bombs and machine guns according to the Palestine Information Center.

However, the use of the stabbing weapon and explosive belts  which emerged in recent days to carry out martyrdom operations, indicates that the weapons used by the resistance are no longer as accessible as they were in the past, due to the tight siege imposed by the occupation, and the intensity of the operations carried out by the resistance fighters, which has led to the depletion of the battalions’ weapons stockpile.

The heroic operations carried out by the resistance fighters in northern Gaza over the past 80 days have resulted in the killing of more than 70 soldiers and officers in the occupation forces, in the Jabalia camp and camp alone, including the bombing of more than 100 military vehicles, 17 sniper operations, and 26 clashes with a foot force.

In a Yedioth Ahronoth interview with an Israeli officer he said the confrontation in northern Gaza these days is through the alleys, face to face with Palestinian fighters who do not fear death and refuse to be arrested.

Major-General Mohammed Al-Samadi believes that the significance of the stabbing operations and martyrdom operations in Jabalia confirms that the resistance is cohesive and strong, and adapts according to combat developments, and carries out hit-and-run operations, and carries out operations through small groups, including the lone wolf operations carried out by one of the mujahideen against the occupation forces, causing casualties and injuries in their ranks.

Al-Samadi added in an interview with Al Jazeera the resistance in northern Gaza has killed 17 soldiers through sniper operations, and that one fighter in the resistance factions can kill a group of individuals in the occupation forces, indicating that the occupation suffers from weak morale among its fighters, and also suffers from an intelligence failure in knowing the resistance’s tactics.

CrossFireArabia

CrossFireArabia

Dr. Marwan Asmar holds a PhD from Leeds University and is a freelance writer specializing on the Middle East. He has worked as a journalist since the early 1990s in Jordan and the Gulf countries, and been widely published, including at Albawaba, Gulf News, Al Ghad, World Press Review and others.

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Israel’s Gaza Bombing Surpasses ISIS Days

The nature of Israel’s crimes in the Gaza Strip must be denounced, particularly the crimes’ horrifying scope, methodical execution, and wide-ranging effects, which surpass those of armed groups like ISIS. While the crimes committed by ISIS have been widely denounced by the international community, the same community is now mostly silent—and therefore complicit—as Israel pursues a campaign of declared genocide that aims to exterminate the Palestinian people from their homeland.

For almost 18 months, this campaign has been running continuously.

Israeli occupation forces detonated a robot today (Thursday 3 April 2025) rigged with tonnes of explosives in the heart of the densely-populated Shuja’iyya neighbourhood in eastern Gaza City. The explosion occurred in an area packed with displaced civilians, though there was no military necessity and no combat activity in the vicinity. This act embodies the conduct of existing terrorist organizations, even surpassing them in brutality and disregard for human life, and bears no resemblance to the conduct of a state bound by international law, regardless of any attempts to distort or evade it.

21 killed

The explosion killed 21 Palestinians and injured around 100 others, the majority of them women and children. A full residential block was obliterated with its residents still inside, and this is not an isolated incident. Over recent months—particularly in the northern Gaza Strip—Israel has increasingly used explosive-laden robots in residential neighbourhoods during its ground incursions. At least 150 such detonations have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians, mostly women and children, and caused wide-scale destruction to homes and other essential infrastructure.

A separate atrocity was committed on 23 March, when Israeli forces detained 15 Palestinian rescue workers from the Palestinian Red Crescent and Civil Defence, along with a United Nations staff member, before executing them extrajudicially—some while their hands were bound. Their bodies were dumped into a pit, and the ambulances they had been traveling in were destroyed. This incident is another blatant example of an intentional Israeli crime mirroring—and exceeding—the brutality of groups like ISIS, as it reveals a clear and deliberate intent to annihilate Palestinians both physically and through psychologically terrorizing residents across the Strip.

Euro-Med Monitor field teams have documented thousands of crimes committed by Israeli forces, constituting overwhelming evidence of mass atrocities. These crimes include an unprecedented pattern of violence in recent history, in terms of scale, deliberate targeting, and genocidal intent. A minimum of 58,000 Palestinians have been killed, the majority of them women and children, and most have been buried beneath the rubble of homes deliberately destroyed over their heads, while many were killed by sniper fire with clear intent. Over 120,000 individuals have been injured, and at least 39,000 children have been orphaned. The Gaza Strip’s infrastructure, including homes, hospitals, and schools, has been virtually obliterated.

Extermination Campaigns

These acts amount to one of the most extensive and systematic campaigns of extermination in contemporary history, underscoring the urgent need for international accountability, an end to Israeli impunity, and concrete action to halt further atrocities.

Israel’s methods in the Gaza Strip—particularly its mass killing of civilians—bear a striking resemblance to the tactics used by groups the international community has widely condemned as terrorist. However, the atrocities unfolding in the Strip are far more dangerous in terms of scale, brutality, and systematic intent, and cannot be understood merely as a function of violent methods or tools. 

What is occurring in the Gaza Strip constitutes a full-scale genocide carried out by a state actor with international legal personality and obligations under international law to protect civilians. Instead, Israel is deploying its military, legal, judicial, and media apparatuses, and benefiting from broad international political protection, to carry out a systematic campaign of destruction against a defenceless population subjected to its settler-colonial and apartheid regime. Palestinians living under this regime are no longer subjected to exclusion, oppression, and intermittent bombardment, as in past years. Rather, Israel is now granted open legitimacy to pursue the extermination of Palestinians in the enclave—unchecked and without accountability.

These actions cannot be dismissed as random or extreme policies, but rather represent a fully-fledged model of organised state terrorism, driven by a comprehensive blueprint for annihilation and implemented in full view of the international community. These crimes are being committed with clear, declared intent to eliminate the Palestinian people as a national and collective entity, uproot those who remain on their land, erase their identity, and ultimately end their collective existence.

The shocking paradox is that these crimes—greater in scope, structure, and severity than those committed by proscribed armed groups—are not met with proportionate condemnation. On the contrary, Israel commits them under the very banner of international legitimacy. While quick to criminalise the actions of non-state terror groups, the international community has extended a false veneer of legality to Israel’s genocide, enabling its prolongation and offering total immunity to the perpetrators.

Ending this double standard is no longer a matter of choice, as it represents a direct assault on the foundations of international law and reveals a racist hypocrisy in the collective protection framework that must be addressed. Treating Israel’s crimes as exceptional and beyond accountability undermines the core principles of the global legal order and entrenches one of the most dangerous forms of impunity.

Stop the Israeli genocide

All states, both individually and collectively, must fulfil their legal obligations and take urgent action to stop Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip in all its forms. This includes implementing concrete measures to protect Palestinian civilians, ensuring Israel’s compliance with international legal norms and the rulings of the International Court of Justice, and guaranteeing full accountability for perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

It is important to implement the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against the Israeli Prime Minister and Defence Minister at the earliest opportunity and ensurethese individuals’ transfer to international justice.

Furthermore, the international community must impose comprehensive economic, diplomatic, and military sanctions on Israel in response to its grave and systematic violations of international law. This includes an arms embargo; the cessation of all political, financial, and military cooperation; asset freezes of implicated officials; travel bans; and the suspension of trade privileges and bilateral agreements that provide Israel with economic benefits, enabling its continued crimes.

Finally, all relevant states and entities must hold complicit governments accountable, foremost among them the United States, along with other nations that provide Israel with direct or indirect support in executing its crimes. Any assistance or engagement in the Israeli military, intelligence, political, legal, or financial sectors, and/or cooperation with Israel’s media, contributes to the continuation of atrocities against the Palestinian people.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor

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‘In Gaza We Die a 1000 Deaths a Day’

For over a year and five months, the people of Gaza have endured an unrelenting war of extermination—one that has robbed them not only of life’s comforts but of its very essence. Eighteen months of ceaseless suffering, where mere survival has become an act of defiance. The Israeli genocide in Gaza has drained every ounce of their strength—physically, mentally, and emotionally. And for those not granted the mercy of a single, swift death, every moment is a slow, agonizing descent into an unspeakable catastrophe. A never-ending cycle of death inflicted upon them by Israel—where one does not simply perish once, but dies a thousand deaths every day.

Under the relentless barrage of missiles raining down upon us, every passing moment is a gamble with fate. If we escape death today, there is no certainty that it will not claim us tomorrow—for in Israel’s eyes, we are all targets. As if the ceaseless bombardment were not enough, we are also stripped of life’s most basic essentials: food, water, electricity. Existence itself has been reduced to an endless procession of lines—one for a sip of clean water, another for a brief charge of a phone, yet another for a meager ration of humanitarian aid.

But among all these hardships, one of the most crushing has been the loss of cooking gas. With the suffocating blockade and the total closure of border crossings, the last fragile thread connecting us to a semblance of normalcy has been severed. Preparing a meal has become an ordeal, an insurmountable task that drapes every household in Gaza with the weight of exhaustion and despair.

The Cooking Gas Crisis: How It Began

Even before the total closure of Gaza’s crossings during Israel’s war of extermination, access to cooking gas was already scarce, failing to meet the population’s basic needs. Nowhere was this crisis felt more acutely than in the north, where gas barely trickled in—even during the rare moments when Israel allowed limited supplies into the south.

When a brief ceasefire was brokered—only to be swiftly shattered by Israel—residents of northern Gaza were once again left without their share. And the moment the ceasefire ended, the crossings were slammed shut once more, plunging people back into uncertainty, forcing them to navigate survival in the face of the unknown.

Malak Radwan, a resident of northern Gaza, recalls: “The first time we managed to get any cooking gas was after the ceasefire in February, 2025. But it didn’t come from our area—we had to depend on our relatives in the south to share what little they had.”

In southern Gaza, gas distribution operated through a system known as “Gas Lists,” where families were registered in a turn-based queue to receive their cylinders. Even then, the allocated amounts were woefully insufficient to meet the needs of the population. Yet, despite its scarcity and inflated cost, gas was still seen as a rare privilege—one that people clung to with gratitude.

But as the siege tightened and Israel’s total closure of the crossings dragged on, these lists became little more than illusions of hope—long, stagnant lines that might never move. According to the Government Media Office in Gaza, the Israeli occupation has prevented the entry of 18,600 aid trucks and 1,550 fuel trucks, including those carrying cooking gas, further exacerbating the suffering of the Palestinian people. Left stranded in uncertainty, families were forced to seek out alternative ways to cook, even as every other resource around them faded into oblivion.

Alternative Cooking Methods Amidst Catastrophe

They say necessity is the mother of invention, but what happens when all means of invention have vanished? Can the resort to primitive methods still be considered innovation in the face of such overwhelming disaster?

In Gaza, residents have been driven to rely on primitive cooking methods—each effort a dangerous gamble that weighs heavily on their bodies, their souls, and their fragile mental state.

Once, gathering around a coal fire to brew tea on a cold winter’s night was a beloved family ritual, a moment unmatched in its warmth. But now, that same fire has been forced upon us as a way of life—one that ignites not only our stoves but also the anguish in our hearts.

Yet, even firewood has become a distant luxury. Its price has soared, driven by the scarcity of trees, forcing some to scavenge shattered wood from the ruins of bombed homes or burn whatever fragments of furniture they have left. Never did we envision a day when we would be compelled to set our own belongings aflame just to prepare a meal.


“My fingers seem to melt with the fire every time I light it,” my mother sighs.

With firewood becoming prohibitively expensive, many have resorted to standing in yet another queue—this time in front of makeshift clay ovens, hoping to cook whatever food they have left. Umm Mohammad, a displaced woman from northern Gaza, has started her own small business: operating a clay oven where she bakes bread and prepares meals in exchange for a few Shekels.
“I began this work to support myself after losing everything during my displacement to the south. At the same time, I wanted to help those who have no means of cooking in their homes or tents,” she says.

For many families, even a few shekels are out of reach. The only remaining option is to rely on community kitchens—yet another queue to stand in, another obstacle in the endless struggle for survival. These kitchens provide just one meal a day, forcing many to subsist on cold canned food for the rest of their meals. Even the single meal was denied to them by the Israeli occupation. According to a report issued by the Government Media Office in Gaza, the Israeli occupation has directly targeted 60 charity kitchens and aid centers in a ruthless campaign aimed at starving the Palestinian people in Gaza. This has resulted in 80% of Gazan citizens losing their source of food.

The impact has been especially harsh on children and the elderly, who desperately need warm, nutritious food to sustain them.

And this is yet another burden we set aside amid the bleakness of our lives. Here in Gaza, the closure of border crossings is not the only barrier worsening the disaster of cooking gas shortages. As Gazans, we do not have the luxury of choosing our daily meals, nor do we have the privilege of enjoying a well-balanced diet. Every day, we are forced to go to the market, only to face the recurring frustration of missing food supplies. We are compelled to prepare meals we do not desire because no alternatives exist, and to eat unbalanced meals because we cannot afford anything better. Here, every moment we endure is a catastrophe in itself.

The Health and Social Consequences of the Gas Shortage

The crisis extends far beyond the inability to cook—it has dire implications for both health and society. Malnutrition has become rampant due to the lack of proper food preparation, leading to widespread cases of general weakness and anemia, especially among children.

Respiratory illnesses have also surged, as people are forced to burn wood and coal inside their homes, inhaling thick smoke with every breath. This has exacerbated the suffering of the sick and elderly.

Amani Al-Ghefari, a resident of northern Gaza, recounts her ordeal: “As someone with nearsightedness who wears corrective glasses, the smoke from burning wood has not only worsened my vision but has also caused a constant burning in my eyes, accompanied by migraines and relentless coughing. The most harrowing consequence, however, has been the physical strain—splitting firewood has taken a severe toll on my joints, leading to months of painful physical therapy.”

But the catastrophe is not limited to physical health—it has deeply scarred the psyche of every Gazan. Food is no longer just a means of sustenance; it has become a haunting memory of life before the genocide. The warmth of family gatherings around a meal has been replaced by a daily struggle for mere survival.
One mother confesses in anguish:
“I can no longer cook a warm meal for my children. I feel helpless, unable to provide for their most basic needs.”

Gaza’s Plea for Its Most Basic Rights

Amidst this suffering, numerous humanitarian organizations have made urgent appeals for aid to enter Gaza. The World Food Programme has expressed concern over the closure of 25 bakeries it supports in Gaza, due to a lack of fuel and flour. Yet, Israel continues its punitive policies, blocking fuel and essential supplies. Human rights advocates persist in calling for the immediate reopening of crossings and the unrestricted flow of aid to all areas of the Strip.

What is happening in Gaza is not merely a humanitarian crisis—it is an orchestrated catastrophe. Life as we knew it has been obliterated, and the suffering has surpassed all conceivable limits. Now more than ever, there is an urgent need for decisive international intervention to save the people of Gaza and to lift the inhumane siege that deprives them of even the most basic right—to cook their own food.

Silence is no longer an option. Every passing moment means more hunger, more pain, more devastation. Supporting Gaza is not just a humanitarian duty—it is a moral imperative that the world can no longer afford to ignore.

Quds News Network

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