Bodies and remains of 17 missing Palestinians recovered from Gaza rubble
In the Gaza Strip, the Civil Defense service reported finding the bodies and human remains of 17 Palestinians who had been considered missing. According to the service, they had been searched for beneath the ruins of residential buildings destroyed in Israeli attacks. This was reported by Anadolu Agency, citing Gaza's Civil Defense service.
Searches in Gaza City and Nuseirat
Sixteen missing people were found beneath the ruins of homes belonging to the Hajjji and Al-Nadeem families in the Zeitoun and Yarmouk areas of Gaza City. The remains of one more person were found under the rubble of the Al-War family home in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central part of the Strip.
The work is being carried out as part of the second phase of a project to search for the bodies of people buried beneath the debris of destroyed buildings. It began on July 19 and covers searches in Gaza City in the north of the Strip and the Nuseirat camp in the central part.
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Lack of equipment slows work
Search and body recovery operations are progressing slowly because of a shortage of heavy equipment, the Civil Defense service said. According to Palestinian authorities, the ceasefire agreement in effect since October 10, 2025, provides for the entry of equipment to clear rubble and search for the dead.
In October 2025, Gaza's Government Media Office reported approximately 9,500 Palestinians missing since the start of the war. They include people whose bodies may remain beneath destroyed buildings, as well as those whose fate is unknown.
According to preliminary Civil Defense data, the second phase of the project is expected to last 800 working hours and cover 147 destroyed homes in the Gaza, North Gaza and Central Gaza governorates. The service estimates that 1,072 bodies may remain beneath the rubble there. During the first phase, which began in late November 2025, approximately 333 bodies and human remains were found among 559 missing people believed to have been buried beneath the debris of 54 homes and structures.
