Charred bodies recovered after partial retreat of Israeli army from western Gaza

By Mustafa Haboush

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - A partial withdrawal of Israeli forces on Friday from an area southwest of Gaza City, four days after initiating a military operation there, uncovered dozens of bodies scattered on the roads and beneath the rubble of demolished homes.

Mahmoud Basal, the Palestinian Civil Defense spokesman in Gaza, stated that “the Israeli army is retreating from the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood, the industrial area, and the Patient Friend’s Hospital, extending to Route 8 on the southern outskirts of Tel al-Hawa."

Basal added that "Civil Defense teams discovered the remains of deceased individuals and completely incinerated residences in Tel al-Hawa and the industrial area."

"We retrieved charred bodies from a single family, and we continue to receive distress calls from the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood and the industrial area,” he added.

According to Palestinian medical sources speaking to Anadolu, ambulance teams recovered the bodies of five Palestinians from inside the Patient Friend’s Hospital, located west of Gaza City, following the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area.

Meanwhile, the government media office in Gaza said: “We have received reports of grave atrocities committed by the occupation forces in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood."

Eyewitnesses informed Anadolu's correspondent that hundreds of residential units in Tel al-Hawa neighborhood and the industrial area were either burned or completely destroyed by the Israeli army.

On Monday, the Israeli military declared the commencement of a ground operation in Gaza City, which includes targeting the headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

Israel has killed more than 38,000 Palestinians since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Hamas. The military campaign has turned much of the enclave of 2.3 million people into ruins, leaving most civilians homeless and at risk of famine.

Israel is also accused of committing genocide in the besieged Palestinian enclave, and a case is continuing at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi