ISRAEL tonight said it “eliminated” a terrorist stronghold in Gaza, hitting back at Hamas claims refugees were killed.

Hamas said the Israeli airstrike took the lives of more than 50 refugees in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.

But Israel’s IDF hit back, claiming the strike was on a “wide-scale strike on terrorists and terror infrastructure”.

The commander of Hamas’s Central Jabaliya Battalion, Ibrahim Biari, was killed in the strike, the IDF said. 

Photos showed neighbourhoods reduced to rubble and giant sinkholes splitting the streets in the aftermath of the massive blast.

An IDF statement read: “IDF forces under the command of the Givati Brigade took over a Hamas military stronghold in West Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip, in-ground operations today”.

They added that “about 50 terrorists were eliminated”.

IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari added: “During this operation many terrorists were killed.

“Terrorists who were with him inside the building as well as under the building in tunnels.

“The targeting of the building he was in led to destruction in other buildings because of this extensive underground infrastructure.

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“The purpose of that infrastructure was to carry out attacks against Israel and that infrastructure has collapsed.”

Pictures show apocalyptic scenes, with masses of devastated onlookers gathered around two huge craters in the street.

Some civilians were seen climbing into the holes as they desperately searched for any survivors. 

Dozens of white body bags lined the streets, awaiting burial at the hospital near the base that was hit.

Earlier today Hamas claimed it was the Jabalia refugee camp that was the target of the strike, adding that over 50 civilians had lost their lives.

“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 Strip,” a Gazan health ministry statement said. 

If confirmed, the number will increase an already climbing death toll in Gaza – which Hamas earlier declared had topped 8,525.

The majority of those killed are thought to be civilians.

Previous Hamas claims of death tolls caused by Israeli strikes have been widely called into question.

Earlier this month, Hamas claimed an Israeli airstrike on a Gaza hospital killed 500.

But Israel has hit back with a furious denial – insisting the devastation was the result of a rocket misfired by Hamas allies Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

The Israeli claims were backed by US president Joe Biden and Rishi Sunak, and the huge death toll was widely disputed.