Civil defense workers have recovered about 60 bodies from collapsed buildings and streets covered in rubble in a Gaza neighborhood following days of Israeli bombardment.
Mahmoud Bassal, the director of civil defense in Gaza, said Friday that the bodies recovered included those of entire families who apparently were killed by artillery fire and airstrikes while fleeing.
"There are bodies scattered in the streets, dismembered bodies; there are bodies of entire families. There are also bodies inside a home of an entire family that was completely burned," Bassal said.
Israel’s military said Hamas militants had regrouped in the Tal al-Hawa and Sinaah neighborhoods in northern Gaza. The military said it could not comment on the discovery of the bodies, according to The Associated Press. An evacuation order for the area was issued Monday.
Hamas militants were using the abandoned headquarters of the United Nations aid agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, according to the Israeli military, which said it found drones and weapons in the building. UNRWA left that compound in October.
"The troops engaged in close-quarters combat with terrorist cells that had fortified themselves inside the UNRWA compound," the Israeli military said.
Border crossings
Israel’s troop presence could shrink if Israel and Egypt agree to an electronic surveillance system for the border between the two countries, Reuters reported Friday. Both Hamas and Egypt oppose the presence of Israeli troops there, but Israel is concerned that Hamas could smuggle weapons into Gaza from Egypt through tunnels.
The dispute over Israeli troops on the border has stalled cease-fire talks. If a surveillance system is set up, Israel would pull back its troops from the area, according to Reuters.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office denied the report, calling it “absolute fake news.”
"The prime minister insists that Israel remain on the Philadelphi corridor. He has instructed the negotiating teams accordingly, made this clear to U.S. representatives this week, and updated the Security Cabinet to this effect last night," the statement said.
Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people and captured about 250 hostages in their October 7 terror attack on Israel that sparked the war. Israel says it believes Hamas is still holding 116 hostages, including 42 that the military says are dead.
Israel’s counteroffensive in Gaza has killed more than 38,200 Palestinians, according to the territory's health ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. Israel estimates the death toll at 30,000 and says most of the dead are combatants.
Nearly three-quarters of Gaza's 2.3 million population is displaced, and nearly the entire population is at risk of famine, according to the United Nations.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
