Israeli operation in Gaza City, 60 bodies found

At least 60 bodies of Palestinians were found on streets and in houses after the Israeli army withdrew from some neighborhoods in the Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip, Xinhua reported quoting the Civil Defense Service in Gaza on Friday.

The Civil Defense Service said its crew members began to recover the dead from the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood and some areas west of the city following the withdrawal of Israeli army forces.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Friday that its troops started a “counterterrorism” operation in the area earlier this week after intelligence indicated that Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants and infrastructure were embedded inside the UNRWA headquarters in the Gaza City.

The IDF said on its X account Friday that it found large quantities of weapons in a compound near UNRWA’s headquarters. It said the troops opened a “defined corridor” to enable civilians to evacuate from the area at the start of the operation.

On Thursday, more than 60 bodies were also recovered from the rubble in the eastern Gaza City neighborhood of Shujaiya after a two-week Israeli ground offensive.

Israel has been conducting a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 were taken hostage.

The Gaza-based health authorities said on Thursday that the Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza has risen to 38,345.