Search teams recovered 19 bodies—most of them women and children—from under the ruins of the "Karam" residential block in Gaza City after a four-day manual operation. Crews say a chronic shortage of heavy machinery forces labour-intensive recoveries, slowing efforts across the territory. Gaza's Health Ministry reports more than 8,000 people remain missing under rubble; since the 11 October ceasefire officials record 1,254 killed, 4,121 wounded and 804 bodies recovered from rubble.
19 Bodies, Mostly Women and Children, Recovered From Gaza Building Rubble
Mourners gather around the shrouded bodies of Palestinians, including children, killed in Israeli air strikes targeting multiple neighbourhoods across Gaza City in August 2025 [File: Hamza ZH Qraiqea/Anadolu]
Search teams recovered 19 bodies, most of them women and children, from beneath the rubble of a destroyed residential block in Gaza City, the territory's civil defence said on Saturday.
The operation focused on the "Karam" building in western Gaza City and concluded after four consecutive days of careful, largely manual searching. Mohammed Abu Dan, who oversees recovery efforts, said specialised medics and civil defence crews will move to a new site elsewhere in Gaza City to resume search operations.
Civil defence officials said their work is repeatedly hindered by a chronic shortage of heavy machinery to lift broken concrete and shift large slabs. As a result, crews rely on rudimentary tools and exhausting manual labour to retrieve victims from the wreckage left by Israeli strikes.
Casualties and Missing
Gaza's Health Ministry says more than 8,000 people remain missing under rubble across the territory. According to the ministry's latest count, since the ceasefire took hold on 11 October, at least 1,254 people have been killed, 4,121 wounded and 804 bodies recovered from rubble.
The overall death toll since October 2023 now stands at more than 73,300, with over 174,000 wounded, according to official figures.
Recent Developments
The latest recovery follows a mass funeral in Gaza City on Tuesday for 112 members of the Abu Sharia and al-Hasayna families, whose remains were pulled from the wreckage of a residential block in the Sabra neighbourhood that was destroyed in an Israeli strike in November 2023.
Recovery teams say the process remains slow, dangerous and labour-intensive, underscoring the urgent need for more heavy equipment and greater humanitarian access to safely clear rubble and recover the missing.
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