GAZA CITY, Palestine

The Palestinian Civil Defense on Friday said its teams recovered bodies of more than 70 people killed in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip during the Israeli army's 20-day assault on the refugee camp.

The Israeli army had earlier completely withdrawn from the camp area and its surroundings after the offensive, according to an Anadolu correspondent.

In a statement, Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal told Anadolu that most of the corpses found belong to women and children.

He added that 30 of them belonged to the Asaliyya family, including 22 women and children.

"Our teams have not yet finished their work in Jabalia, and continue to look for more martyrs under the rubble of destroyed homes," the spokesman added.

He described Jabalia as a "disaster area" due to the Israeli military operation, which he said destroyed the camp's infrastructure, including water and electricity networks and health facilities.

Local authorities in Gaza said earlier that the Israeli army "implemented a scorched-earth policy" during its incursion into the Jabalia refugee camp as it left immense destruction in the camp's homes and infrastructure.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since an attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

Over 36,000 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority being women and children, and over 82,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Nearly eight months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in its latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar