GAZA – Forty-eight bodies of the victims killed in previous Israeli attacks were recovered from Al-Shifa Hospital, west of Gaza City, said Gaza’s Civil Defense on Thursday.

“The bodies had been buried within the walls of Al-Shifa Hospital during the war,” the civil defense said in a press statement, adding that rescue and medical teams have begun transporting these bodies to official cemeteries.

The Israeli army stormed the medical complex, the largest one in the Gaza Strip, several times during the war, causing extensive damage to its buildings and rendering it out of service, in addition to the killing and arrest of dozens of individuals there.

Also on Thursday, Gaza-based health authorities announced the arrival of nine bodies at Gaza hospitals in the past 24 hours, including new deaths and bodies recovered from under the rubble.

The health authorities added that the death toll in Gaza since the start of the war on Oct. 7, 2023, has risen to 48,524, while the number of injured has reached 111,955.

XINHUA