Jabalia Camp

Jabalia Camp (Arabic: مخيّم جباليا‎) is a Palestinian refugee camp located 3 kilometers (1.9 mi) north of Jabalia. The refugee camp is in the North Gaza Governorate, Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the camp had a population of 93,455 in mid-year 2006.

The camp had a registered population of 103,646 inhabitants on June 30, 2002, and is located at the northern end of the Gaza Strip, close to the Israeli border and a village with the same name. The camp only covers an area of 1.4 km² making it one of the most densely populated places on earth. The First Intifada in December 1987 began in Jabalia. The camp has been the scene of much violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is also considered a major stronghold of the Hamas movement. The camp is the largest refugee camp in Palestinian territory.

During the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, Israel artillery reportedly hit an UNWRA school in Jabalia Camp, killing at least 15 Palestinians sheltering there. A UN spokesman stated: "Last night, children were killed as they slept next to their parents on the floor of a classroom in a UN-designated shelter in Gaza. Children killed in their sleep; this is an affront to all of us, a source of universal shame. Today the world stands disgraced."

Jabalia

Jabalia also Jabalya (Arabic: جباليا‎) is a Palestinian city located 4 kilometers (2.5 mi) north of Gaza City. It is under the jurisdiction of the North Gaza Governorate, in the Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Jabalia had a population of 82,877 in mid‑2006. The Jabalia refugee camp is adjacent to the city to the north. The nearby town of Nazla is a part of the Jabalia municipality. The city is currently ruled by a Hamas administration.

Archaeology

A large cemetery dating to the 8th century BC was found near Jabalia. The workmanship indicates that the Christian community in Gaza was still very much in existence in the early Islamic era of rule in Palestine, and capable of artistic achievements. The remains of the pavement spared by the iconoclasts show depictions of wild game, birds, and country scenes. The late dating of the mosaic pavement proves that the intervention of the iconoclasts, after 750, is later than previously thought and is associated with Abbasid conservatives.