Gaza's Jabalia camp left in ruins after Israeli army withdrawal

The Israeli army withdrew from Gaza's Jabalia camp on Friday after a 20-day bombardment that destroyed homes and infrastructure.

Jabalia is Gaza’s largest refugee camp, once home to over 100,000 people.

Several bodies have been recovered from the camp and the nearby Beit Lahia area, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.

The organisation says its teams are facing difficulties extracting bodies from under the rubble due to a lack of the necessary equipment, and the delayed recovery poses a risk of diseases and epidemics in north Gaza.

Palestinians have been forced to search through the rubble, trying to find their belongings and loved ones.

The Israeli army said on Friday its troops had "completed" its mission in eastern Jabalia and is preparing for new incursions.

The military claimed it had killed hundreds of fighters, recovered the bodies of seven Israeli captives and destroyed 10km of underground tunnels.

The Israeli army started the operation on 12 May, stating they were on a mission to locate Hamas cells. The attacks forced thousands to flee towards the west of Gaza City.

Over 70 percent of the camp has been destroyed, including public facilities, hospitals and schools.

Al Jazeera reported over 1,0000 homes have been destroyed, while residential buildings were also burned down.

In southern Gaza, Israeli forces continued their bombardment of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of forcibly displaced Palestinians are sheltering, with no other area to flee to.  

World leaders expressed outrage over an Israeli strike on 26 May which targeted a displacement camp, killing 45 civilians, despite the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordering an "immediate halt" to the invasion.

Since 7 October, over 36,200 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, while at least 81,800 have been wounded. At least 10,000 more are either missing or under the rubble.