The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said on Monday that Israeli military tanks and vehicles had been withdrawn from the vicinity of the main hospital in the besieged territory, Al-Shifa, days after the launch of a major operation on the site.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. The Israeli military did not immediately confirm any pullout.
Eyewitnesses said dozens of air strikes and shells had hit the area around the complex.
The Hamas government media office said the Israeli air strikes had provided the withdrawing vehicles with a cover of fire.
The army launched its operation March 18, and has described it as a “precise” one targeting Hamas militants it accused of operating from the complex.
It has previously said 200 militants had been killed in fighting in and around Al-Shifa.
The army has also released footage it claimed showed weapons and money seized from Al-Shifa 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.”
