THE bodies of dozens of Palestinians have been retrieved from the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood after Israeli forces withdrew from parts of Gaza City, Palestinian rescue workers have said.
“The Gaza civil defence teams moved in to rescue survivors. They found dozens killed. Most of those killed are families, women, and children. Some bodies were eaten by dogs,” Gaza’s civil defence spokesperson Mahmoud Basal said on Friday.
“At least 60 bodies were counted. Some bodies were buried on the spot. Others were taken to nearby hospitals.”
Israeli forces had entered the neighbourhood this week after ordering civilians to evacuate on Monday.
“Many bodies are still under the rubble. The Israeli forces are stationed nearby and the rescue efforts are interrupted regularly,” Basal said.
The discovery has come after Israeli forces withdrew from Gaza City’s Shujayea neighbourhood. On Thursday, Basal said civil defence teams recovered dozens of bodies from there, as well, adding that the neighbourhood has become uninhabitable.
“Documented testimonies” have been taken that Israeli forces opened fire on residents in the neighbourhood despite being located on designated evacuation routes, he said.
Home to more than a quarter of Gaza’s residents before the war, Gaza City was largely razed to the ground in late 2023, but hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had returned to homes in the ruins before Israel once again ordered them to leave.
Hamas, the Palestinian group that governs Gaza, accused Israeli forces of “atrocities” and called for international accountability. In a statement, the group accused Israel of committing “heinous abuses” in Gaza City.
“The atrocities revealed after the terrorist occupation army’s withdrawal from Tal al-Hawa in southwest Gaza City, after days of incursion and intense bombing that targeted all aspects of life, are war crimes of genocide and ethnic cleansing,” Hamas said.
It called on the UN and international community to take immediate steps to end a “war of extermination” that Israel is waging against Palestinians.
