TEHRAN- Gaza’s civil defense has said that scores of bodies are scattered in alleys and inside destroyed houses in areas of Gaza City and its suburbs where the Israeli military has retreated.

Reports say to the east of Gaza City in the Shejaiya neighborhood, residents were returning mostly on foot to a man-made disaster after Israeli forces withdrew.

Mahmoud Basal, the spokesperson for the civil defense, said “once the Israeli occupation forces withdrew from Shejaiya neighborhood, civil defense crews, with local residents, managed to recover about 60 dead bodies up to now.”  

On July 10, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) said that it ended its invasion of the neighborhood, leaving behind a trail of destruction. Many residents in Shejaiya have been classified as “missing” by the Gaza health ministry. 

For two weeks, the IOF pounded Shejaiya neighborhood but faced a steadfast resistance and was caught in many ambushes. 

The ground invasion, heavily supported by warplanes and combat drones saw the neighborhood cut off from the rest of the Gaza Strip. It has now emerged the IOF also bulldozed Shejaiya’s largest cemetery. 

Palestinians returning on foot, wooden carts or bicycles, carrying basic belongings, passed the remains of burnt-out and completely torn Israeli armored vehicles and tanks.  

It is yet another indication that the IOF is incapable of defeating the Palestinian resistance who published a video on Thursday showing a command center intact with operatives in touch with fighters on the ground preparing an ambush against the IOF. 

While the Palestinian resistance has been attacking Israeli military targets, the IOF appears to have razed everything and killed everyone within sight. 

“We have returned to Shejaiya after 15 days. You can see the destruction. They spared nothing, even trees, there was a lot of greenery in this area. What is the guilt of stones and trees? And what is my guilt as a civilian?” resident Hatem Tayeh told Reuters.

“There are bodies of civilian people. What is the guilt of the civilian? Who are you fighting?”

Gaza City and its suburbs were largely razed to the ground in late 2023 after the IOF declared victory over Hamas. 

Since then, the Israeli military has regularly invaded and pounded the north of Gaza in a clear indication of its inability to eliminate the Palestinian resistance. 

Critics have accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and his inner circle, of regularly ordering bombardment on the northern region of the Gaza Strip with such intensity in a bid to derail negotiations on reaching a ceasefire deal. 

Experts say this is particularly true when talks to end the Gaza genocide are close to an agreement. 

“We will die but not leave to the south. We have tolerated starvation and bombs for nine months and we are ready to die as martyrs here,” Mohammad Ali told Reuters.

“The occupation (Israel) bombs Gaza City as if the war was restarting. We hope there will be a ceasefire soon, but if not then is God’s will.” Ali added. 

Further revelations of IOF crimes emerged after it withdrew from areas in Tel al-Hawa and the Industrial area, west of Gaza City, following its invasion and occupation there for about one week. 

“The scene now in the Industrial area is very difficult and tragic after the occupation army withdrew from it,” a statement by the Gaza civil defense said, adding that the IOF set many residential buildings on fire before retreating. 

The Gaza civil defense stated that the current situation in Tel al-Hawa and the Industrial area is “extremely difficult and tragic” after the IOF retreated to “Street 8”.

Teams are trying to recover the bodies of dead Palestinians.

Also in its statement, the Gaza Civil defense said it anticipates the death of all the residents who were left behind in Tel al-Hawa and the Industrial area, noting scores of charred bodies scattered in alleys and inside completely burned houses.

They reported finding around 60 bodies in the two area after the IOF withdrew, stating that the Israeli occupation killed residents who were seeking food supplies in those areas.

Meanwhile, ongoing distress calls are being received, with the civil defense reporting the retrieval of 3 bodies from the same family. 

Another statement released later on Friday emphasized that the IOF is randomly firing dozens of shells west of Gaza City.

Reporters for regional news channels, on the ground in Gaza, have said the Israeli bombardment is targeting the northern suburbs of Gaza City and houses near the electricity company on a street in al-Sabra neighborhood south of the city.

According to reporters, there are large numbers of missing persons in areas of northern Gaza whom the civil defense is incapable of searching for.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said its teams “are unable to respond to dozens of distress calls in Gaza due to the severity and intensity of Israeli bombing,” adding that “field reports from Gaza governorate indicate extremely tragic conditions for residents, as the occupation continues to target residential squares, displace citizens from their homes, and shelter centers.”

In addition to the onslaught, the Israeli occupation continues to completely besiege the entire Gaza Strip and prevent aid from entering, exacerbating the difficulty of already dire living conditions alongside the spread of epidemics and diseases.

The cruelty of the Israeli genocide in Gaza has been reflected in many ways, as the assault on women and children extends to ten months. 

One issue that has alarmed the international community is the number of times the IOF has forced already displaced families to move from one area to another within the Strip, with little to zero humanitarian aid to survive on. 

The IOF has ordered more than two million residents in Gaza to seek safety in al-Mawasi describing it as a “humanitarian zone” despite bombing the tiny coastal area itself. 

“Before the war started, the al-Mawasi was just a strip of land on the beach, not a residential area … there are no infrastructure or any buildings” the British charity OXFAM told Al Jazeera. 

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says that since the outbreak of the genocide in Gaza, about 6,400 Palestinians have been reported as missing and are yet to have been found. 

The figure is based on requests made to the organization but experts believe the number is much higher due to the lack of communication services in the enclave. 

Reports have quoted, Sarah Davies, an ICRC spokesperson as saying “each week we can receive anywhere between 500 and 2,500 calls to our hotlines, and the majority of these are requests for missing family members”. 

The health ministry in the Gaza Strip says the death toll from the U.S.-backed genocide has exceeded 38,300, and that this number doesn’t account for missing individuals, including those trapped under rubble, detained or buried in mass graves. 

According to estimates by the ministry, as of July 6, about 10,000 people have been categorized as “missing”.