Israeli forces withdraw from area of Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza

Israeli forces have withdrawn from the area of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza after several days of deadly military operations.

Geolocated videos show extensive destruction in the area, with several apartment blocks destroyed or heavily damaged, CNN reports citing the Civil Defense Directorate in the besieged enclave.

The Directorate said that its crews had been able to recover several bodies from under the rubble, but the removal of others would require heavy excavation equipment.

Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal told CNN the situation was “tragic."

"There is a huge scale of destruction, including residential buildings and infrastructure.”

Basal estimated that about 500 people had been killed, wounded, detained or gone missing in the military operation. CNN cannot verify the estimate and has contacted the Israeli military about the scope and purpose of its operations in Nuseirat.

The mayor of Nuseirat, Iyad Maghari, said that a week of Israeli assaults in the area had “deprived residents of the most basic human services, such as water, sanitation and waste collection.”

Maghari said about 25,000 square meters of roadways, water wells and generators that pumped water had been destroyed.

He said that about 20,000 tons of waste had accumulated in the streets and around shelters due to the lack of fuel and the destruction of municipal vehicles, leading to a problem with vermin.

The sewage system had been extensively damaged, he said, with more than 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) of pipes destroyed.

“The municipality of Nuseirat suffers from a significant scarcity of diesel needed to operate water wells … in addition to operating sewage treatment plants,” Maghari said.