Gaza Herald – Gaza’s Civil Defense announced on Thursday that its teams have begun surveying eight residential buildings destroyed during Israeli attacks, where the remains of an estimated 170 Palestinians are believed to be still trapped beneath the rubble.
According to the Civil Defense, a technical committee conducted field inspections to assess the extent of destruction at the sites, examining collapsed concrete structures and debris in preparation for recovery operations.
The assessment aims to determine the safest methods for opening access routes and deploying the equipment required to recover the victims’ remains, despite severe shortages of heavy machinery and rescue resources.
Officials said the inspections are part of the Martyrs Recovery Project, an initiative launched to retrieve bodies from beneath collapsed buildings and return them to their families for burial with dignity.
Civil Defense and emergency crews continue recovery efforts across Gaza, where widespread destruction and limited equipment have severely hampered access to those still trapped beneath the ruins.
Authorities estimate that around 15,000 Palestinians remain buried under collapsed buildings throughout the Gaza Strip, with many recovery operations delayed due to the lack of specialized machinery and the scale of the devastation.
Earlier this week, residents of Gaza City held funeral prayers for the remains of 112 Palestinians from Abu Sharia and Al-Hasayna families after rescue teams recovered them from beneath a residential block destroyed during a large-scale Israeli bombardment in the Al-Sabra neighborhood on November 22, 2023, one of the largest body recovery operations since the beginning of the Israeli genocide.
