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The Israeli army has withdrawn tanks and vehicles from the Al-Shifa hospital complex in Gaza following a major operation, as confirmed by the Gaza health ministry on Monday.
The health ministry in Gaza said Monday the Israeli military had withdrawn tanks and vehicles from the complex housing the besieged territory's main hospital, Al-Shifa, days after the launch of a major operation on the site.
The ministry said dozens of bodies had been found at the complex, where an AFP journalist and eyewitnesses saw tanks and vehicles pulling out. The Israeli military confirmed the pullout.
Eyewitnesses said dozens of air strikes and shells had hit the area around the complex.
The Gaza government media office said the Israeli air strikes had provided cover for the withdrawing vehicles.
It has previously said 200 militants had been killed in fighting in and around Al-Shifa.
The army has also released footage showing weapons and money seized from the hospital and claiming that had been used by Hamas and another militant group, Islamic Jihad.
Hamas has denied operating from Al-Shifa and other health facilities.
"Dozens of bodies, some of them decomposed, have been recovered from in and around the Al-Shifa medical complex," the health ministry said in a statement.
The Israeli military "withdrew from the Al-Shifa medical complex after burning down the complex buildings and putting it completely out of service", it said.
"The scale of the destruction inside the complex and the buildings around it is very large."
An AFP journalist on the scene said several buildings inside the complex had been damaged, with some areas showing damage from fire.
A doctor told AFP more than 20 bodies had been recovered and that some had been crushed by withdrawing vehicles.
With hundreds of thousands of Gazans displaced by the war, hundreds had sought refuge at the Al-Shifa complex prior to the operation.
Deadly air strikes pounded other areas of the Gaza Strip early Monday, while fighting raged in several flashpoints located across the territory.
At least 60 people died in Gaza during the night, the health ministry said Monday.
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on social media platform X that an Israeli air strike on Sunday hit "a tent camp" inside the Al-Aqsa hospital compound in central Gaza, killing four people and wounding 17.
Israel's military denied that the hospital was damaged, saying on X that one of its planes had "struck an operational Islamic Jihad command center and terrorists positioned in the courtyard of the Al-Aqsa Hospital in the area of Deir al Balah".
AFP
The health ministry in Gaza said Monday the Israeli military had withdrawn tanks and vehicles from the complex housing the besieged territory's main hospital, Al-Shifa, days after the launch of a major operation on the site.
The ministry said dozens of bodies had been found at the complex, where an AFP journalist and eyewitnesses saw tanks and vehicles pulling out. The Israeli military confirmed the pullout.
Eyewitnesses said dozens of air strikes and shells had hit the area around the complex.
The Gaza government media office said the Israeli air strikes had provided cover for the withdrawing vehicles.
It has previously said 200 militants had been killed in fighting in and around Al-Shifa.
The army has also released footage showing weapons and money seized from the hospital and claiming that had been used by Hamas and another militant group, Islamic Jihad.
Hamas has denied operating from Al-Shifa and other health facilities.
"Dozens of bodies, some of them decomposed, have been recovered from in and around the Al-Shifa medical complex," the health ministry said in a statement.
The Israeli military "withdrew from the Al-Shifa medical complex after burning down the complex buildings and putting it completely out of service", it said.
"The scale of the destruction inside the complex and the buildings around it is very large."
An AFP journalist on the scene said several buildings inside the complex had been damaged, with some areas showing damage from fire.
A doctor told AFP more than 20 bodies had been recovered and that some had been crushed by withdrawing vehicles.
With hundreds of thousands of Gazans displaced by the war, hundreds had sought refuge at the Al-Shifa complex prior to the operation.
Spiralling death toll
Deadly air strikes pounded other areas of the Gaza Strip early Monday, while fighting raged in several flashpoints located across the territory.
At least 60 people died in Gaza during the night, the health ministry said Monday.
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on social media platform X that an Israeli air strike on Sunday hit "a tent camp" inside the Al-Aqsa hospital compound in central Gaza, killing four people and wounding 17.
Israel's military denied that the hospital was damaged, saying on X that one of its planes had "struck an operational Islamic Jihad command center and terrorists positioned in the courtyard of the Al-Aqsa Hospital in the area of Deir al Balah".
AFP
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