War rages across Gaza Strip, Israel claims to have intensified operations in Jabalia refugee camp

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Wednesday (May 15) that the 98th Division pushed into the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip overnight, killing many gunmen. According to the IDF, the division's 7th and 460th armoured brigades battled "dozens of armed squads and eliminated a large number of terrorists" the previous day.

The IDF claimed in a message on its official Telegram channel that overnight it started "an operation against terrorist operatives and infrastructure in the centre of the Jabalia camp"and has "eliminated a large number of terrorists".

Residents in the Jabalia camp said that Israeli tanks had destroyed clusters of homes but were facing heavy resistance."They are bombing houses on top of their inhabitants. We know of many families being trapped inside their homes," said Abu Jehad, as quoted by the news agency Reuters.

Hamas ally Islamic Jihad said it killed some foot soldiers in Jabalia - a camp which was claimed to have been cleared by Israel months ago.

The military said that in the same area, a drone strike killed members of a cell responsible for rocket fire on Sderot yesterday.

The IDF said that its 162nd Division is continuing operations in the eastern part of Rafah in southern Gaza. The IDF said that troops of the Givati Brigade raided a Hamas training camp during the Rafah operations. The soldiers killed several gunmen at the Hamas base and captured weapons. It also claimed that have located mock IDF vehicles used by the militant group for training.

"In the Nahal Brigade's operation in the Zeytun area, the fighters eliminated dozens of terrorists in ground encounters and airstrikes," the military said in a post on social media platform X.

It added that the "military destroyed terrorist infrastructure and located many weapons - dozens of Kalashnikov rifles, grenades, cartridges and means of intelligence control of the terrorist organisation Hamas."

"The battle team of the Nahal Brigade completed their mission in the Zeyton area and are preparing for further offensive operations," it said in a post.

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Israel shows images of gunmen at UN site

Israel said its troops had identified fighters in the central logistics compound of the UN Palestinian relief agency UNRWA east of Rafah, demanding an explanation.

"The U.N. has in part become a terrorist entity in itself because it cooperates with Hamas and covers for it," Israel's ambassador to the U.N. Gilad Erdan told Army Radio.

UNRWA has denied allegations of cooperating with Hamas. Meanwhile, the agency said it was examining the footage and would share information when possible.

While speaking to the news agency Reuters, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said that the men were there to protect aid distribution.

"These are false allegations and lies. This is a police force tasked with securing aid centers against acts of theft and looting," Abu Zuhri told Reuters.

Disclaimer: WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing developments on the Israel-Palestine conflict after the Hamas attacks. However, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

(With inputs from agencies)