60 bodies found after Israeli operation in Gaza City

Gaza City, Palestinian Territories – AFP

Around 60 bodies were found under the rubble of a Gaza City neighbourhood, officials said Thursday, after Israel’s military declared an end to its operation there.

The upsurge in fighting, bombardment and displacement in the eastern district of Shujaiya came as talks were held in mediator Qatar towards a truce and prisoner release deal.

US President Joe Biden told reporters that his administration was “making progress” towards a cease-fire agreement as he called for an end to Israel’s war on Gaza.

His statement came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded that Israel retain control of key Gaza territory along the border with Egypt — a condition that conflicts with Hamas’s position that Israel must withdraw from all Gaza territory after a cease-fire.

Gaza’s civil defence agency said around 60 bodies had been found under the rubble in Shujaiya.

Israel’s military said on Wednesday it had completed its mission in Shujaiya after two weeks, but bombardments and fighting continued to shake Gaza City.

Witnesses said tanks and troops had moved on to other parts of the city.

An AFP correspondent reported air strikes on the Sabra neighbourhood.

Hamas reported 45 air strikes in the Gaza City area, as well as in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, where Netanyahu had said the intense phase of the war was nearing its conclusion.

The UN’s health agency meanwhile said that only five trucks carrying medical supplies were allowed into Gaza last week.

“More than 34 of our trucks are waiting at the Al Arish crossing, and 850 pallets of medical supplies are awaiting collection. A further 40 trucks are waiting at Ismailiya in Egypt,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Friday on social media platform X.

Israel has killed at least 38,345 Palestinians Gaza, mostly women and children, according to figures from Gaza’s health ministry.