Gaza Herald_ Civil Defense teams in Gaza have begun recovering the bodies of 13 Palestinians who have remained buried beneath the rubble of a multi-story family home since it was destroyed by an Israeli strike during the early days of the war.
The recovery operation began Tuesday at the Gharbiya family home in the Al-Katiba area west of Gaza City, in coordination with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal said a large number of Palestinians were killed when the home was struck. While some bodies were recovered immediately after the attack, 13 others remained trapped beneath the collapsed building.
The victims include women, children and elderly Palestinians, Basal said.
Years Needed to Recover Gaza’s Dead
Basal warned that the Civil Defense remains severely short of heavy machinery, specialized equipment, fuel and protective gear, leaving crews struggling to reach thousands of Palestinians believed to remain beneath destroyed buildings across Gaza.
“If we remain in this situation, we are talking about many years,” Basal said, explaining that the recovery operations could instead be completed within months if sufficient equipment and resources were provided.
Rescue workers are operating with extremely limited resources, sometimes using their bare hands to remove rubble and recover bodies and human remains. Many also lack basic protective equipment while working in unstable and heavily damaged structures.
Basal said Civil Defense crews continue working without salaries, bonuses or compensation, and urged the international community, humanitarian organizations and rights groups to provide the machinery and logistical support needed to recover those still buried.
Thousands Remain Beneath the Rubble
Tuesday’s operation forms part of the second phase of a Civil Defense recovery project launched on July 19 to locate and recover Palestinians buried beneath buildings destroyed during Israel’s war on Gaza.
The second phase involves 147 destroyed homes across Gaza City and the northern and central parts of the Strip. According to Basal, the remains of 1,072 Palestinians are believed to be trapped beneath the rubble at these sites.
During the first phase, launched in November 2025, Civil Defense teams recovered 333 bodies and human remains from 54 destroyed homes and buildings. However, a lack of equipment prevented crews from reaching around 226 additional sites.
Gaza’s Government Media Office reported in October 2025 that around 9,500 Palestinians had been reported missing since the beginning of Israel’s war, including people believed to be buried beneath the rubble and others whose fate remains unknown.
Recovery Efforts Amid Continued Attacks
The recovery operations are taking place as Israeli forces continue attacks in parts of Gaza despite the ceasefire that took effect on October 10, 2025.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, Israeli attacks since the ceasefire have killed at least 1,258 Palestinians and injured 4,139 others.
Since October 2023, Israel’s war on Gaza has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians and wounded over 174,000, while widespread destruction has damaged or destroyed around 90 percent of the territory’s infrastructure.
For Gaza’s Civil Defense crews, the work now extends beyond rescuing survivors. It has become a race against time to recover thousands of people who remain buried beneath the ruins of homes that were destroyed during the war.
