Bodies, remains of 105 Palestinians recovered from rubble in Gaza City

Recovery operation takes 17 days as families gather to identify, bury relatives killed in Israeli attacks

The bodies and remains of 105 Palestinians were recovered from beneath the rubble of a residential block destroyed in Israeli attacks in central Gaza City following a 17-day search, the Civil Defense said Wednesday. Families gathered in the devastated Al-Taj area to identify and bid farewell to their relatives as rescue crews laid the shrouded remains in rows among the ruins. The Civil Defense said the recovery operation was carried out in coordination with an Egyptian committee. "These are civilians and human beings who have the full right to live in peace and safety," Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal told Anadolu, renewing calls for the protection of civilians in Gaza. Among those present was Taghreed Al-Hanawi, whose daughter, physician Alia Ramzi Al-Hanawi, was killed along with her husband and four children. "Their family was completely erased from the civil registry," she told Anadolu. "Today the wound has reopened, but at last I was able to hold their remains and bury them with dignity," she said. Fawaz Ziyara, a relative of victims and a survivor from the area, said around 300 people were killed when the residential block was struck, while more bodies and missing people remain under the rubble. Israeli violations of the October 2025 ceasefire agreement have killed 1,431 Palestinians and injured 5,026 others, Gaza's Health Ministry said Wednesday. Since Oct. 8, 2023, Israel's genocidal war on the Gaza Strip has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians and injured over 175,000 others, while around 90% of the enclave's infrastructure has been destroyed.