PARIS, France - France said Wednesday that it was "deeply concerned" about Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip's largest refugee camp, calling for a humanitarian pause to allow aid through.
This combination of handout satellite images released by Maxar Technology and created on November 1, 2023, shows (L) an overview of the Jabalia refugee camp on October 31, 2023 and the destruction in the same camp after it was hit by an Israeli strike. Thousands of civilians, both Palestinians and Israelis, have died since October 7, 2023, after Palestinian Hamas militants based in the Gaza Strip entered southern Israel in an unprecedented attack triggering a war declared by Israel on Hamas with retaliatory bombings on Gaza. (Photo by Handout / Satellite image ©2023 Maxar Technologies / AFP)
Israeli strikes have targeted the Jabalia refugee camp twice in two days, killing and wounding dozens, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory.
Israel said Tuesday's raid was a successful hit on top Hamas commander Ibrahim Biari.
"France is deeply concerned about the very heavy toll on the Palestinian civilian population from the Israeli strikes against the Jabalia camp, and expresses its compassion for the victims," the government said in a press release.
Paris reiterated a call for "an immediate humanitarian truce so that aid can reach those who need it in a sustainable, safe and adequate way".
Israel has relentlessly pounded Gaza in retribution for the worst attack in the country's history.
Hamas gunmen stormed across the border from Gaza on October 7, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and taking more than 230 hostages, according to Israeli officials.
Israel's retaliatory bombing campaign has killed 8,796 people, mainly women and children, according to Hamas-run Gaza's health ministry.