Israeli forces pull back after Gaza City offensive, leaving dozens of bodies

Israeli forces retreated from some Gaza City districts overnight after an intense, week-long offensive.

They have left behind dozens of dead bodies, alongside wrecked homes and roads in the Palestinian enclave's biggest urban area, residents and rescue service said on Friday.

The offensive, 10 months into Israel's war on Gaza, was met by fierce Hamas resistance in an area Israel said it cleared months ago. 

The Gaza Civil Emergency Service said teams had 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 neighbourhood in Gaza City.

Both residents and rescue teams cautioned that while tanks withdrew from some areas, Israeli snipers and tanks continued to control the high ground in some locations, and warned residents against trying to return home.

"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 the Gaza Strip Civil Defence spokesperson Mahmoud Basal. 

Reporting by MEE and Reuters