Israel’s military says it was targeting a Hamas commander in a strike on a refugee camp in Gaza in which dozens of people are believed to have died.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) say the commander of Hamas’s Central Jabaliya Battalion, who it says was one of the leaders of the massacres in Israel on 7 October, was killed in the airstrike.

Ibrahim Biari had also been the “main leader” of Hamas’s combat operations since Israeli forces entered Gaza, IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari has said in a news conference.

Follow live: ‘Dozens killed’ in refugee camp blast

The director of a nearby hospital has told Sky News that hundreds of people were injured and killed in the blast at the Jabaliya refugee camp in the north of the region.

Ayed al Bazm, a spokesman for Gaza’s Hamas-run interior ministry, said six bombs hit the area, with apartment blocks damaged in the explosions.

In a statement, the IDF said: “A short while ago, IDF fighter jets, acting on ISA intelligence, killed Ibrahim Biari, the Commander of Hamas’ Central Jabaliya Battalion. Biari was one of the leaders responsible for sending ‘Nukbha’ terrorist operatives to Israel to carry out the murderous terror attack on October 7th.”

Rear Admiral Hagari said during the news conference that the targeting of the office building where Biari was based led to the collapse of other buildings.

Speaking in Hebrew, Rear Admiral Hagari said: “The purpose of that infrastructure was to carry out terrorist activities against our forces. The entire infrastructure collapsed and many terrorists were killed.”

He added: “Hamas terrorists continue to use the civilian population as human shields intentionally and in a very cruel and brutal manner.”

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Rear Admiral Hagari said Israel will continue to operate with “full force” in Gaza City and repeated calls for people in the Palestinian territory to move south.

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