GAZA, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Israel launched intense airstrikes across northern Gaza on Sunday, in what local residents described as the heaviest bombardment since October 2023.

The Gaza Civil Defense said in a statement that dozens of people were killed or wounded and trapped under the rubble of homes hit in the Israeli attacks.

The strikes focused on areas east of Jabalia, Tel al-Zaatar, and near the Indonesian Hospital, according to the Civil Defense, which added that its crews were overwhelmed by the number of homes targeted overnight.

Witnesses reported that artillery vehicles also shelled northwestern areas of northern Gaza.

"Israeli aircraft and artillery have been carrying out heavy shelling on most areas of the camp since last night," Basem al-Masri, a resident of Jabalia camp, told Xinhua. He said the intensity reminded him of the early weeks of the war.

The Israeli military said it had "completed the encirclement of the Jabalia area" in an attempt to prevent Hamas from rebuilding its infrastructure. The army spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, published a map showing two evacuation routes from northern Gaza to the south, urging residents to leave.

However, some residents, like al-Masri, refused to comply with the evacuation calls. Shukri Omran, who fled Jabalia for the Shati refugee camp, said, "We will not leave the northern Gaza Strip."

The escalation came just one day before the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israeli towns near Gaza, which killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli figures.

The Gaza health ministry reported on Sunday that the Palestinian death toll from Israeli attacks in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023 has reached 41,870. Enditem

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