Israeli forces pulled back from parts of Gaza City overnight after a fierce, week-long offensive against Hamas, leaving dozens dead and significant destruction in the Palestinian enclave’s largest urban area, rescuers reported.
The offensive, occurring 10 months into Israel’s campaign to eliminate Hamas militants, coincided with U.S.-backed efforts to finalize a peace deal that would free hostages taken by Hamas during their cross-border attack on Oct. 7.
The Gaza Civil Emergency Service reported that teams had recovered around 60 bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces over the past week from Tel Al-Hawa and the outskirts of the Sabra neighborhood in Gaza City.
Although tanks withdrew from some areas, Israeli snipers and tanks continued to control strategic high ground, residents and rescue teams said, cautioning residents against returning.
“There are bodies scattered in the streets, dismembered bodies, entire families, and homes completely burned,” said Mahmoud Basal, a spokesperson for the Gaza Strip Civil Defense, on Friday.
Israel’s military stated it had found drones and other weaponry in a Hamas combat complex inside the former UNRWA headquarters in Gaza City, evacuating civilians before attacking. The military also discovered a significant Hamas tunnel nearby and weapons production facilities under a university building.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad’s armed wings claimed to have attacked Israeli forces with anti-tank rockets and mortar fire, causing casualties. The Israeli army has not commented on these claims.
Gaza City, home to more than a quarter of Gaza’s residents before the war, was largely destroyed in late 2023. Despite the devastation, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had returned to their homes before being ordered out again by Israel.
On Friday, dozens of residents returned to assess the damage after civil emergency teams extinguished fires. Reuters footage showed destroyed roads and buildings, including the former UNRWA headquarters. Bodies wrapped in white shrouds, bearing the names of the deceased, were laid out at Al-Ahli Hospital.
Musa Al-Dahdouh recounted heavy aerial and tank fire, saying Israeli forces detained and interrogated his sons, their wives, and children before releasing them.
“My mother is in a wheelchair, my wife has metal in her arms and legs, and my grandson is paralyzed. His father had to carry him on his back,” he said.
In Khan Younis, southern Gaza, Hamas media reported that an airstrike killed four employees of the Al-Khair Foundation, a Muslim NGO based in Britain and Turkey, at an aid distribution center.
Arab mediators, backed by the United States, are negotiating a ceasefire deal to free Israelis held hostage by Hamas in exchange for Palestinians jailed by Israel.
On Friday, a senior Hamas official blamed Israel for failing to build on the momentum created when Hamas dropped a key demand in the U.S.-drafted ceasefire offer a week ago, accusing Israel of “stalling and wasting time.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his commitment to the Gaza ceasefire framework on Thursday, accusing Hamas of making contradictory demands without specifying what they were.
Two Egyptian sources indicated that while talks had progressed, security arrangements and ceasefire guarantees were still under discussion. Part of the negotiations involved an electronic surveillance system along the Gaza-Egypt border, which could enable Israel to withdraw its troops from the area, though Israel dismissed the report as “absolute fake news,” insisting that Israeli troops would remain.
