Reporters on the ground in Gaza said that Israel has yet again disrupted communications on Wednesday morning

Al Jazeera has denounced Israel’s killing of 19 family members belonging to its broadcast engineer during Tuesday’s Jabalia massacre, in which at least 400 Palestinians were killed.

In a statement, the Qatar-based broadcaster condemned the “heinous and indiscriminate” killing of the family members of Mohamed Abu Al-Qumsan, Al Jazeera’s broadcast engineer and described it as an “unforgivable act”.

The devastating Israeli attack killed Al-Qumsan’s father, two sisters, eight nephews and nieces, his brother, his brother’s wife and their four children, his sister-in-law, and one uncle. 

Since the start of the war on October 7, Israel has killed at least 8,525 Palestinians, including 3,457 children who represent more than 40% of the toll.

“We extend our sincere condolences to Mohamed and his family and stand in solidarity with them during this time of profound sorrow, and we call for justice and accountability for this senseless murder of innocent lives,” Al Jazeera said.

It added that such “Israeli crimes against  the civilians must not go without being held accountable and face the full force of international justice.”

“We urge the international community to address this grave injustice with utmost urgency to justice served for the families of Mohamed Abu Al-Qumsan and countless other innocent Gazan civilians who lost their loved ones,” the network stressed.

Just last week, Israel targeted and killed the family of Wael Dahdouh, Al Jazeera Gaza’s bureau chief, in what has been widely slammed as an attempt to further silence the network. 

The IOF killed Dahdouh’s wife, son, daughter and infant grandson as they sheltered in a temporary house in the south of Gaza, which Israel had claimed is a safe zone. Dahdouh suggested his family were targeted for his work.

Tuesday’s massacre at the densely populated Jabalia, the biggest refugee camp in Gaza, killed around 400 people, mainly children, Palestine’s news agency (Wafa) reported.

Horrifying footage showed hundreds of victims being rushed to Gaza’s already overwhelmed hospitals, most of which have not been able to function under non-stop Israeli bombing as well as an absence of basic resources due to its crippling siege.

WAFA’s correspondent also reported a large number of people still trapped under the rubble.

At least 15 others were also killed when Israel targeted a residential building in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. The IOF carried out a third airstrike at a house in the Al-Shati refugee camp in the west of Gaza city, where 10 others were killed.

Gaza’s authorities said the Jabalia refugee camp massacre is as deadly as the 17 October Al-Ahli Arabi Baptist Hospital massacre, in which the IOF killed at least 500 Palestinians seeking treatment and shelter.

A ‘final warning’

Speaking after the Jabalia massacre, Ashraf Al-Qudra, the Palestinian health ministry spokesperson, warned that the generators at the Al-Shifa hospital were “hours away” from fully shutting down, calling for the intervention of oil-producing nations.

“We are calling on all our brothers in oil-producing nations to urgently intervene and supply al-Shifa Hospital and the Indonesian Hospital with fuel that’s needed to save the lives of the sick and injured,” Al-Qudra said.

Israel has blocked all fuel entry into Gaza as part of a complete siege on Gaza that has left the Strip’s 2.3 million population without food, water and electricity.

Meanwhile, rights organisations have called out the global inaction as they witnessed the countless massacres in Gaza unfold.

In a statement on Tuesday, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), a non-profit group, said the attack on the Jabalia refugee camp “should serve as a wake-up call to world leaders and politicians everywhere”.

“Their meek requests for compliance with international law are being ignored entirely; Israel has instead increased the ferocity of its indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks,” Melanie Ward, the chief executive of the MAP, said in a statement.

Ward further called for a ceasefire in Gaza that “will bring this bloodshed to an end”.

The UN has failed to achieve consensus on four resolutions seeking a ceasefire as Israel continues to dismiss any plans to halt the aggression under its efforts to wipe Hamas “off the face of the earth”.

The IOF has been advancing militarily in Gaza over the past two weeks under its plans to wage a full ground invasion into the Strip. Hamas fighters have been battling the IOF’s attempts to enter Gaza through several areas.

On Tuesday, the IOF confirmed nine of its members were killed in overnight raids on Gaza, bringing the total to more than 320 since the beginning of the war. 

In a post on X, the IOF minister Yoav Gallant said the killing of its soldiers dealt “a hard and painful blow” to Israel.

Meanwhile, reporters on the ground in Gaza said that Israel has yet again disrupted communications on Wednesday morning. This comes just days after Gaza was subjected to a complete communications blackout for almost 36 hours between Friday and Sunday. 

The move was widely seen as Israel’s attempts to hide its massacres from the global view.