Israel-Gaza-Lebanon Live Updates: IDF reports 110 attacks in Lebanon, Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday denied reports that its troops are forcing Palestinians from their homes in northern Gaza with the intention of permanently blocking their return.

“The statement attributed to the IDF in the last 24 hours, which claims that residents of northern Gaza will not be allowed to return to their homes, is incorrect and does not reflect the IDF’s goals,” it said in a statement to ABC News.

“Contrary to reports, the IDF will continue to allow humanitarian aid into northern Gaza and is also allowing aid to enter the Jabalia area,” they added.

The IDF statement was in response to a Wednesday report by The Guardian newspaper – attributed to an IDF briefing seen in Israel’s Kan News – that IDF Brig. Gen. Itzik Cohen told Israeli reporters that since troops had been forced to enter some areas of northern Gaza twice, such as the Jabalia camp, “there is no intention to allow the residents of the northern Gaza Strip to return to their home.”

Cohen is alleged to have added that no humanitarian aid would be allowed into the northern areas because there are “no more civilians left.”

An Israeli admission of the deliberate permanent displacement of Palestinians and the use of food as a weapon would be highly significant. Palestinian officials and NGOs have accused the IDF of both measures throughout the war in Gaza.

“The IDF is operating in the Jabalia area to target Hamas infrastructure in the region, engaging in intense combat in which many terrorists are eliminated and Hamas’ military infrastructure, both above and below ground, is destroyed,” the IDF said in its opinion. Thursday statement.

-ABC News’ Guy Davies