Israeli Forces Pull Out From Gaza City; Over 60 Bodies Of Palestinians Found Under Rubble | Latest Updates

In the recent development from Israel's nine-month long war on Gaza, civil defence workers on Friday recovered around 60 bodies from collapsed buildings and pulled them off rubble-covered streets of the city.

Director of civil defense in Gaza, Mahmoud Bassal, said that about 60 bodies have been found so far, including entire families who appeared to have been killed by artillery fire and airstrikes as they tried to flee. Additionally, he said, that some bodies had been partially devoured by dogs, others burned inside homes and some remained unreachable under the debris.

Most of Gaza's population and the surrounding areas had fled their homes earlier in the war. However, the United Nations estimated that some 300,000 people remained in the north. So far, Israel has not allowed those who flee south to return to the north.

LATEST ON ISRAEL'S WAR ON GAZA

Israeli Forces Retreat From Gaza City

The Israeli troops have reportedly pulled out of parts of Gaza City, including Tal al-Halwa and Sanaa neighbourhoods, following days of bombardment and fighting there.

The military launched an incursion into the district earlier this week to fight what it said were Hamas militants who had regrouped.

Israeli forces have been repeatedly re-invading parts of the tiny territory as Hamas continues to shift and maintain capabilities.

In a statement on Friday, the military said that its troops targeted the abandoned headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, where it believed that the militant group had set up operations.

Notably, UNRWA had left the compound early on in the war in October last year. The Israeli military said that the troop battled Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters in the compound, discovering material for building drones and weapons stashed in the premises.

Though troops on Friday withdrew from most of the areas, snipers and drones continued to open fire, The Associated Press cited a resident -- who had fled the region but spoke to his family -- as saying.

Troops set fire to many houses, including one of his uncles, and carried large-scale arrests, taking people for interrogation inside the UNRWA premise during the days of offensive, the resident, Salem Elrayyes, added.

Elrayyes said that at least 11 of his relatives were detained and two were released after being severely beaten.

Over 60 Bodies Found From Gaza Rubble

Civil defence workers on Friday pulled out bodies from under collapsed buildings and rubble-covered streets, as they collected the corpses over 60 Palestinians killed in Israel's offensive.

Videos doing the rounds on social media showed the workers wrapping bodies, including several women, in blankets on the damaged and rubble-filled streets of Tal al-Hawa and Sinaah.

Civil Defence in Gaza's director Mahmoud Bassal said that about 60 bodies have been found so far, adding that some of the bodies were either charred inside homes or partially consumed by dogs while others remain unreachable.

Fadel Naem, the director of nearby Al-Ahli Hospital, said that at least 40 bodies found in the districts had been brought to the facility, though he didn't have a precise number.

Notably, the Israeli military said that it could not comment on the discovery of these bodies.

A day before, civil defence workers said that they found dozens of bodies in Shijaiyah, another Gazan city from where Israeli troops had withdrawn in the recent days.

Mediators Continue To Push For Ceasefire

As the war raged on, Cairo, US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators continued to push to narrow gaps between Israel and Hamas over US' proposed three-phase ceasefire and hostage release plan in Gaza.

The proposal, which was introduced by US President Joe Biden, calls for an initial ceasefire with a limited hostage release and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza's populated areas.

Simultaneously, the two sides will negotiate the terms of the second phase. Then the Phase two is supposed to bring a full hostage release in return for a permanent ceasefire and then complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Netanyahu Won't Agree To Any Deal

On the other hand, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would not agree to any deal that would prevent it from resuming its military campaign until Hamas is eliminated.

Netanyahu on Thursday indicated that Israel intended to keep a hold of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, which would mean that a full withdrawal from Gaza will be contradicted.

Meanwhile, the militant group had dropped its demand that Israel commit ahead of time to reach a permanent ceasfire. But a Hamas political official told AP that the group wants written guarantees from the mediators that negotiations will continue until permanent ceasefire is reached.

Ahmed Abdul-Hadi, the head of Hamas' political office in Lebanon, said that otherwise, "Netanyahu can stop the negotiations and thus resume the aggression".

He also noted that Hamas does not expect to continue as the sole ruling party in Gaza after the war but wants to see a Palestinian government of technocrats.

“We do not want to rule Gaza alone again in the next phase,” he said. Israeli officials have suggested they will demand Hamas' removal in the talks for the second phase.

(With AP inputs)