Half a million displaced return to Gaza as retrieval of bodies continues

A mood of cautious calm prevailed across the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, with no airstrikes recorded on Palestinian cities and camps, while rescue and civil defence teams continued to retrieve the bodies of those killed from under the rubble after the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

According to medical sources, the death toll was 125 since dawn Saturday, including one person shot by Israeli forces east of Khan Younis and three others who later died of their wounds, while most of the bodies were recovered from areas from which tanks had withdrawn.

Gaza and the North

Civil defence teams were able to retrieve 73 bodies from neighbourhoods in Gaza City, while an additional 250,000 displaced people returned to the city, bringing the total returnees since the ceasefire to around half a million displaced. The withdrawal of tanks revealed extensive destruction in the northern neighbourhoods.

Central Gaza

In central Gaza, medics retrieved the bodies of 21 people from the Nitsarim axis north of the Nuseirat camp.

Southern Gaza

Also, a man was killed east of the town of al-Qarara by gunfire from a quadcopter-type drone while inspecting his home. Medics recovered the bodies of 31 people from neighbourhoods in Khan Younis, to which displaced residents have begun returning.

Statistics

According to the daily statistical report, 161 people were killed and 72 others injured during the past 24 hours, including 116 bodies recovered from under the rubble. This raises the toll from the Israeli assault since October 7, 2023, to 67,682 killed and 170,033 injured. An additional 320 deaths were added to the cumulative tally after their data was completed.