Jabalia Camp () is a

Palestinian refugee camp Palestinian refugee camps were first established to accommodate Palestinians who were displaced by the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight during the 1948 Palestine war. Camps were established by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UN ...

in the

North Gaza Governorate The North Gaza Governorate () is a governorate of Palestine in the Gaza Strip, which is administered by Hamas. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the governorate had a population of 270,245 (7.2% of the Palestinian popul ...

of the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

, north of

Jabalia Jabalia, also spelled Jabalya (), is a city in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, located north of Gaza City, in the North Gaza Governorate of the Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Jabalia had a population of 172, ...

. It is the largest refugee camp in Palestine, with more than 100,000 inhabitants. The camp only covers an area of 1.4 km² making it one of the most densely populated areas in the Gaza Strip. The camp was established in 1948 by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

to house those displaced by the

1948 Palestinian expulsion In the 1948 Palestine war, more than 700,000 Palestinian Arabs – about half of Mandatory Palestine's predominantly Arab population – fled from their homes or were expelled. Expulsions and attacks against Palestinians were carried out by the ...

. Originally composed of tents and other temporary structures, over time the population grew and the camp developed into a densely populated urban area with multi-story buildings. Since the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

in 1967, the camp has been under

Israeli occupation Israel has occupied the Golan Heights of Syria and the Palestinian territories since the Six-Day War of 1967. It has previously occupied the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt and southern Lebanon as well. Prior to 1967, control of the Palestinian terr ...

along with the rest of the Gaza Strip. Due to Israeli attacks during the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

, the refugee camp has been mostly destroyed.

History

Jabalia refugee camp was established in 1948 by the

to house those displaced by the

. Originally composed of tents and other temporary structures, over time the population grew and the camp developed into a densely populated urban area with multi-story buildings. Today the camp is the largest refugee camp in Palestine with a population of ~100,000. Since the

in 1967, the camp has been under

along with the rest of the

. The camp has been the scene of much violence in the

Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is an ongoing military and political conflict about Territory, land and self-determination within the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. Key aspects of the conflict include the Israeli occupation ...

. The

First Intifada The First Intifada (), also known as the First Palestinian Intifada, was a sustained series of Nonviolent resistance, non-violent protests, acts of civil disobedience, Riot, riots, and Terrorism, terrorist attacks carried out by Palestinians ...

in December 1987 began in Jabalia and the camp is considered by

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

to be a "

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

stronghold". There is an extensive tunnel network beneath the camp. The

Al-Fakhura school shelling The al-Fakhura school shelling was an Israeli military strike that took place during the Gaza War on 6 January 2009 near a United Nations-run school in the Jabalia Camp in the Gaza Strip. According to the UN and several non-governmental organiza ...

occurred in Jablia on January 6 2009 during the

First Gaza War First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

2014 Gaza War

During the

2014 Gaza War The 2014 Gaza War, also known as Operation Protective Edge (, ), and Battle of the Withered Grain (), was a military operation launched by Israel on 8 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory that has been governed by Hamas since ...

, Israeli

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

reportedly hit an

UNWRA The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA, pronounced ) is a United Nations System, UN agency that supports the relief and Human development (economics), human development of Palestinian refugee ...

school in Jabalia Camp, killing at least 15

Palestinians Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenou ...

sheltering there. A UN spokesman stated: "Last night, children were killed as they slept next to their parents on the floor of a classroom in a UN-designated shelter in Gaza. Children killed in their sleep; this is an affront to all of us, a source of universal shame. Today the world stands disgraced." Protestors at the camp participated in the

2023 Gaza economic protests In July and August 2023, thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip took to the streets to protest chronic power outages, poor economic conditions in the territory, and Hamas's taxation of stipends to the poor paid by Qatar. The rallies, organ ...

against poor economic conditions in Gaza and Hamas mismanagement.

Gaza war (2023-present)

The Jabalia refugee camp, which has been the target of multiple Israeli air strikes during the

, was struck again on 31 October. The Israeli air-strike killed at least 50 Palestinians and trapped more than a hundred beneath the rubble, according to the

Gaza Health Ministry The Gaza Health Ministry (GHM), officially the Palestinian Ministry of Health – Gaza, is responsible for managing healthcare and medical services in the Gaza Strip. The health ministry's casualty reports have received significant attention d ...

. The

Indonesia Hospital Indonesia Hospital (, ) is a hospital located in Bait Lahia, North Gaza Governorate, Gaza Strip. Facilities The hospital has 100 ward beds, 4 operating theaters, and a 10-bed intensive care unit. The hospital had 400 staff members employed b ...

said most casualties were women and children. Gaza Interior Ministry stated the camp had been "completely destroyed," with preliminary estimates of about 400 wounded or dead.

IDF spokesperson The IDF Spokesperson's Unit (, ''Dover Tzahal'', abbr. Dotz) is the unit in the IDF Operations Directorate, responsible for information policy and media relations. The unit is led by the IDF Spokesperson, a brigadier general and member of the ...

Daniel Hagari Daniel Hagari (; born 1976) is an Israel Defense Forces Rear Admiral ( Tat-Aluf) who currently serves as the head of the IDF Spokesperson's Unit. Previously he has served as the commander of the Israeli Navy's operations directorate, the Chief ...

confirmed that Israeli fighter jets attacked the refugee camp, and stated that the attack killed a Hamas commander who led the

7 October attacks On October 7, 2023, Hamas and several other Palestinian militant groups launched coordinated armed incursions from the Gaza Strip into the Gaza envelope of southern Israel, the first invasion of Israeli territory since the 1948 Arab–Israeli ...

, dozens of Palestinian militants, and destroyed Palestinian tunnels. Hamas said none of its commanders were present and that Israel was using these claims as an excuse for the attack.

2024

The Israeli army withdrew from the refugee camp on 6 February 2024. ''Al Jazeera'' journalist Anas al-Sharif reported that all that remained was total destruction, with one resident of the area stating there was "not a single habitable house" remaining in Jabalia. On 12 May 2024, Israeli forces reportedly attacked the refugee camp again. Footage allegedly showed Israel dropping bombs on the camp, and using tanks to enter it. Following Israel's withdrawal from the camp in late-May 2024, as much as 70 percent of the camp was said to be in ruins. The Israeli military said it destroyed over 10 kilometers of

tunnels A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

beneath Jabalia that it said the militants used. Civil defence crews reportedly uncovered 120 bodies in the aftermath of the withdrawal. In June 2024, Palestinian municipal authorities declared the camp a

disaster area A disaster area is a region or a locale that has been heavily damaged by either natural, technological or social hazards. Disaster areas affect the population living in the community by a dramatic increase in expense, loss of energy, food and se ...

. In October 2024, the Israeli military attacked the camp, killing at least 33 people and wounding 85, including children.

Notable people

* Atef Abu Saif, writer *

Izzeldin Abuelaish Izzeldin Abuelaish () is a Canadian-Palestinian medical doctor and author. He was born in Gaza, and was a Palestinian doctor who worked in an Israeli hospital and has been active in promoting Israeli- Palestinian reconciliation. During the Gaza Wa ...

, physician *

Mahmoud al-Mabhouh Mahmoud Abdel Rauf al-Mabhouh (; 14 February 1960 – 19 January 2010) was the chief of logistics and weapons procurement for Hamas's military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. He is remembered for his assassination in Dubai (widely seen as ...

, Hamas commander

References

External links

Jabalia
articles from

Jabalia camp profile
{{Palestinian refugee camps Palestinian refugee camps in the Gaza Strip * 1948 establishments in All-Palestine (Gaza)