Starting 9:00pm reporters on the ground shared reports of marked presence of warplanes in the skies of north Gaza amid intensifying Israeli assault assaault combining air strikes, artillery shelling and intensive gunfire from occupation vehicles in the Saftawi area, Beit Lahia, Jabalia camp and Jabalia al-Balad in the northern Gaza Strip.

Within 10 minutes of those early alarms, a violent Israeli air strike had taken out an entire residential block near Al-Omari Mosque, on Al-Mahkama (court) Street in Jabalia Al-Balad.

The bombing destroyed three houses belonging to five families (Dardouna, Assaf, Azzam, Ghunaim and Junaid). 22 people were killed, including 15 from the Assaf family and a 7-months-old infant. Dozens of injuries were also reported, with others missing under the rubble.

The bombing was so destructive that it completely "erased" the Assaf and Alloush family houses and left a crater in its wake Source 1 Source 2 Source 3

Journalists Bisan Shrafi and Hossam Shabat stated that ambulances cannot reach the area since they ran out of fuel"

The traumatized surviving family members recognized journalist Anas Al-Sharif when he arrived, calling him by name and demanding to be heard. Clearly moved by their distress, he later posted: "The bereaved families call on me to photograph and document the crimes of the occupation, so that their cries and appeals may reach them. Hoping that consciences will move and the world will respond to stop the ongoing massacres against innocent civilians." and “Oh God, give patience and healing to people’s hearts. I was shocked by this young man’s request as he carried the body of his martyred brother.” and finally "Without exaggeration, these are the most difficult days of the Israeli war on Gaza."

Also affected by the scale of this catastrophe, journalist Islam Bader, after reporting for Al-Araby TV, posted "What a sad report... I started it with the body of a baby girl who had not yet reached three months and ended it in front of a Hajj (elderly) embracing the body of his son... and a young man embracing the body of his brother... There is no power nor strength except with God. The Jabalia Holocaust continues. Are you listening?" He followed up with a pair of PHOTOS and the caption: "I grew tired of sleeping in the car, so I took a picture to remind myself after the war ended! Then came the martyrs of a house bombing... and I found an old man sleeping next to his martyred son! And a young man next to his martyr brother! How insignificant are our misfortunes compared to the misfortunes of others?"

Photos

• Smoke billows from the houses
• Impact of the airstrike
• Young man Ali Assaf mourns his murdered family
• Young man holds dead infant surrounded by 6 other people murdered

Names of the martyrs (identified):

1. Hassan Ibrahim Assaf
2. Heba Abdelqader Asaf (Shaaban)
3. Ibrahim Hassan Assaf
4. Fawzi Hassan Assaf
5. Abdulhadi Hassan Assaf
6. Mirvat Ismail Asaf
7. Omar Hassan Assaf
8. Ismail Hassan Assaf
9. Mohammed Hassan Assaf
10. Mervat Ibrahim Assaf
11. Nour Ibrahim Assaf