# UN condemns civilian casualties after strike on Jabalia food centre
The United Nations has condemned what it called a large number of civilian casualties in northern Gaza after an Israeli strike reportedly killed at least 10 people waiting at a food distribution centre in Jabalia refugee camp. The episode landed amid a widening ground offensive, mass displacement and deepening pressure on humanitarian services across the north.
The BBC reported that shells hit inside and outside the UN-run distribution centre on Monday morning as hungry people gathered for aid. The Israeli military said it was reviewing the incident and maintained that it operates only against terror targets. That is the core dispute in the reporting: Palestinian and UN accounts describe an aid queue struck during a humanitarian emergency, while the military says it is investigating and does not acknowledge wrongdoing.
The strike was only one part of a broader offensive. According to the BBC, Israeli tanks and troops had been pushing through Jabalia and nearby northern towns for nine days in an effort to root out regrouped Hamas fighters. The UN said more than 50,000 people had fled the Jabalia area, but many others remained trapped in their homes as bombardment and ground fighting continued.
Humanitarian conditions were already severe. The BBC said the offensive had forced the closure of water wells, bakeries, medical points and shelters, and had suspended malnutrition treatment and other services. The UN also said it had not been allowed to deliver essential supplies, including food, since October 1, with nearby border crossings closed and no deliveries permitted from the south. In practical terms, that meant the population most exposed to the fighting also had the least access to food and care.
The report placed the Jabalia strike alongside other deadly incidents in central Gaza, including an overnight strike that killed four people at a tented camp next to al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah and a separate report of more than 20 people killed by tank fire at a UN-run school in Nuseirat. Israel said the hospital-area strike was aimed at terrorists and that it had taken steps to limit civilian harm. Those competing accounts illustrate how difficult it has become to verify battlefield events in real time.
What is not in dispute is that the humanitarian system in northern Gaza is under extraordinary strain and that civilians are being killed in and around places meant to offer safety. The UN’s criticism focused on that reality, warning that civilians must be protected at all times. For residents in the north, the question is no longer just who is responsible for each individual strike, but whether any safe corridor for food, shelter and medical care can still be maintained.
