Gaza civil defence says 55 bodies recovered as Israeli forces pull back

People embrace near a fountain turned to a memorial in Tel Aviv for Israelis killed during and in the two years since the 2023 attacks by Palestinian militants, and those who remain hostages in Gaza, on the second anniversary of the attacks on October 7, 2025. [AFP]

Gaza's civil defence agency said more than 50 bodies were recovered from the wreckage and brought to hospitals across the territory Friday after Israel declared a ceasefire and started pulling back troops.

Mohammed al-Mughayyir, an official within the rescue force that operates under Hamas authority, said at least 55 bodies had been retrieved. He did not give further details about when or how the people were killed.

The director of Al-Shifa Hospital, Mohammed Abu Salmiya, told AFP that 33 of the bodies were brought to hospitals across Gaza City, which was the scene of a gruelling Israeli offensive before Friday's ceasefire.

He said that one of the dead had been "targeted today by Israeli fire near the Baraka area in Sheikh Radwan, north of Gaza City."

The Israeli military on Friday said its troops had ceased fire "in preparation for the ceasefire agreement and the return of hostages".

The withdrawal set the clock running on a 72-hour deadline for Hamas to release the remaining hostages held in Gaza, under a 20-point peace plan put forward by US President Donald Trump.

The civil defence confirmed that Israeli troops and armoured vehicles were pulling back from forward positions in both Gaza City and the southern city of Khan Yunis.

After two years of brutal war, thousands of displaced Palestinians began to make their way back to their wrecked homes.

Akram Al-Sahhar, 50, said he had been walking with his children since noon to reach Gaza City.

"We are tired, but the most important thing is that the war has stopped, and we are returning to the rubble of our home, which we will rebuild to be even more beautiful than before," he said.

"We will not give up."