Gaza Civil Defense teams have successfully concluded a four-day search and recovery mission at the Karam residential building, located on al-Sinaa Street in western Gaza City. The operation resulted in the recovery of 19 Palestinian bodies from beneath the debris of the structure, which was destroyed during an Israeli strike. Mohammad Abu Dan, the executive supervisor of the Civil Defense's body recovery project, confirmed that teams have finished their work at this specific site and have now transitioned to a new location in Gaza City to begin the next phase of recovery efforts.
The ongoing search operations are hampered by the immense scale of destruction across the enclave and a persistent shortage of heavy machinery. The current recovery efforts are part of the second stage of a project launched on July 19. At the project's inception, Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal stated that the initiative aims to spend 800 working hours searching for an estimated 1,072 bodies believed to remain trapped under the ruins of 147 destroyed homes across the Gaza, North Gaza, and central Gaza governorates. These efforts are being conducted with limited resources, including only one excavator, one bulldozer, and one truck, with support provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
During the first phase of this project, which began in November 2025, teams recovered 333 bodies from 54 destroyed sites, though approximately 226 bodies remained unrecovered due to inadequate equipment. In October 2025, the Gaza Government Media Office reported that nearly 9,500 Palestinians had been missing since the start of the conflict, many of whom are presumed to be buried under collapsed infrastructure. While the first phase of a ceasefire agreement effective October 10, 2025, was intended to facilitate the entry of heavy recovery equipment, the challenge remains significant. According to Palestinian authorities, the two-year conflict has killed over 73,000 Palestinians, wounded more than 174,000, and destroyed approximately 90 percent of civilian infrastructure, with the United Nations estimating reconstruction costs at $70 billion.
