Nineteen victims, mostly women and children, retrieved from Gaza building collapse

Gaza’s civil defence announced that 19 bodies, primarily women and children, were recovered from the rubble of a destroyed residential building.

Civil defence officials in Gaza reported that 19 bodies, largely women and children, have been pulled from the wreckage of a residential building known as the Karam structure in the city’s western area. The search, overseen by Mohammed Abu Dan, lasted four consecutive days and wrapped up on Saturday, after which specialized medics and rescue teams will move to a new location to continue the effort. The operation is hampered by a chronic lack of heavy machinery, forcing crews to rely on basic tools and manual labor to shift the broken concrete left by Israeli strikes.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, more than 8,000 individuals remain unaccounted for under rubble throughout the enclave. Since the ceasefire began on October 11, the ministry records at least 1,254 deaths, 4,121 injuries, and 804 bodies recovered, while the overall death toll since October 2023 exceeds 73,300 with over 174,000 wounded. The latest recovery follows a recent mass funeral for 112 members of the Abu Sharia and al-Hasayna families whose remains were extracted from a Sabra neighbourhood building destroyed in November 2023.