GAZA — The Gaza Media Office accused the Israeli army of intensifying genocide in the northern Gaza Strip, including the Jabalia refugee camp, through "massacres and deliberate killings" since its ground encroachment on October 6.

In a statement issued Saturday, the office claimed that the Israeli occupation forces are preventing rescue teams and civil defense personnel from retrieving more than 75 bodies out of the 285 killed during the ground assault.

It described these actions as crimes against humanity, including premeditated killings by bombing displacement centers and carrying out horrific massacres targeting civilians, including women and children.

The office further claimed that Israel is attempting to dismantle the healthcare system in northern Gaza by rendering hospitals inoperable and directly targeting medical facilities. It warned of efforts to turn northern Gaza into a zone of destruction as part of a broader strategy to displace Palestinian residents.

The statement held Israel and the United States fully responsible for what it described as the ongoing genocide, particularly in Jabalia and northern Gaza, with the deaths of children and women highlighted as part of the broader civilian toll.

Since Israel's offensive began following a Hamas attack last October, Gaza's health authorities report that more than 42,200 people, mostly women and children, have been killed, with over 98,300 others injured. The ongoing assault has displaced nearly the entire population of Gaza amid a blockade that has resulted in severe shortages of essential supplies, including food, clean water, and medicine. — Agencies