Rhino: Agencies – Israeli troops withdrew from some Gaza City neighborhoods overnight after a fierce week-long military offensive that met resistance from Hamas, leaving dozens dead and destroying homes and roads in the Strip’s largest urban area, rescue teams said.

The offensive comes in the tenth month of a military campaign that Israel says is aimed at wiping out Hamas, as Qatar and Egypt, backed by the United States, seek to finalize a deal that would pave the way for the release of hostages held by Hamas since its October 7 attack on Israel.

The Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza said teams recovered about 60 bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces during the week from the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood and the outskirts of the al-Sabra neighborhood in Gaza City.

Residents and rescue teams reported that Israeli snipers and tanks were stationed on high ground in some locations despite the withdrawal of tanks from some areas, and warned residents not to attempt to return to their homes in those areas.

“There are dozens of bodies of martyrs scattered in alleys and inside destroyed houses,” Mahmoud Basal, spokesman for the Civil Defence in Gaza, said on Friday in remarks quoted by media outlets in the Hamas-run territory: “We found charred bodies of martyrs and completely burned houses in Tal al-Hawa and the al-Sinaa area,” “We recovered martyrs from one family and we are receiving continuous distress calls in Tal al-Hawa neighborhood and the al-Sinaa area.”