CAIRO/GAZA. Israeli forces pulled back from parts of Gaza City overnight following a fierce week-long offensive that met with heavy resistance from Hamas, resulting in dozens of deaths and widespread destruction of homes and roads in the largest urban area of the Palestinian enclave, rescuers said.
The offensive, which occurred ten months into Israel’s campaign to eliminate Hamas militants, coincided with U.S.-backed mediators attempting to finalize a peace deal to free remaining hostages taken by the militants during their cross-border attack on October 7.
The Gaza Civil Emergency Service reported that teams collected around 60 bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces over the past week from the area of Tel Al-Hawa and the edges of the Sabra neighborhood in Gaza City.
While tanks withdrew from some areas, Israeli snipers and tanks continued to control certain high ground, according to residents and rescue teams, who warned residents against trying to return.
“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,” said Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for Gaza Strip Civil Defense, on Friday in comments carried by media in Hamas-run Gaza.
Israel’s military stated that they found drones and other weaponry in what they described as a Hamas combat complex inside the former UNRWA headquarters in Gaza City and had evacuated civilians from the area before attacking.
“The troops engaged in close-quarters combat with terrorist cells that had fortified themselves inside the UNRWA compound,” they said, adding that they also discovered a significant Hamas tunnel nearby and weapons production under a university building.
The armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed they attacked Israeli forces with anti-tank rockets and mortar fire, causing numerous casualties. The Israeli army has not commented on these claims.
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 their homes in the ruins before Israel once again ordered them out.
Dozens of residents returned on Friday to assess the damage after civil emergency teams extinguished fires in the early hours. Reuters footage showed wrecked roads and buildings, including the former UNRWA headquarters. Bodies wrapped in white shrouds and bearing the names of the deceased men and women lay on the floor at Al-Ahli Hospital.
Si Venus L Peñaflor ay naging editor-in-chief ng Newsworld, isang lokal na pahayagan ng Laguna. Publisher din siya ng Daystar Gazette at Tutubi News Magazine. Siya ay isa ring pintor at doll face designer ng Ninay Dolls, ang unang Manikang Pilipino. Kasali siya sa DesignCrowd sa rank na #305 sa 640,000 graphic designers sa buong daigdig. Kasama din siya sa unang Local TV Broadcast sa Laguna na Beyond Manila. Aktibong kasapi siya ng San Pablo Jaycees Senate bilang isang JCI Senator.
