Gaza City, Gaza – The health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip said at least 50 people were killed Tuesday in an Israeli bombardment of a refugee camp in the Palestinian territory, which the army confirmed targeted a militant commander.

"More than 50 martyrs and around 150 wounded and dozens under the rubble, in a heinous Israeli massacre that targeted a large area of homes in Jabalia camp in the northern (Gaza) Strip," a Gaza ministry statement said.

AFP video footage from the scene showed at least 47 bodies recovered from the rubble after the strike hit several houses in the densely crowded camp. Dozens of onlookers could be seen standing on the edges of two vast craters as people searched for survivors.

Hours later, the Israeli military said it targeted Jabalia camp with a strike, killing Ibrahim Biari – a key Hamas commander linked to the October 7 attack on Israel by the group.

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"His elimination was carried out as part of a wide-scale strike on terrorists and terror infrastructure belonging to the Central Jabaliya Battalion, which had taken control over civilian buildings in Gaza City," the military said.

"The strike damaged Hamas's command and control in the area, as well as its ability to direct military activity against IDF soldiers operating throughout the Gaza Strip.

"As a result of the strike, a large number of terrorists who were with Biari were killed. Underground terror infrastructure embedded beneath the buildings, used by the terrorists, also collapsed after the strike," the army said.

Ragheb Aqal, a Jabalia resident, described the strikes as "an earthquake" which shook the entire refugee camp.

"I went and saw the destruction... homes buried under the rubble and body parts and martyrs and wounded in huge numbers," the 41-year-old told AFP.

"There's no exaggerating when they talk about hundreds of martyrs and wounded."

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People were still "transporting the remains of children, women and elderly", he added.

Before the strike on Jabalia, the health ministry in Gaza said 8,525 people have been killed in the narrow strip of land since Israel launched its bombing campaign on October 7.

The war erupted after Hamas militants from Gaza launched attacks on Israeli communities and army posts, killing around 1,400 people, according to Israeli officials.