GAZA, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), Civil Defense crews in Gaza Governorate have recovered the bodies and remains of 233 Palestinians from beneath the rubble of 20 homes destroyed by Israeli occupation forces while residents were inside, while 174 bodies remain missing under the debris.
A total of 407 bodies are believed to have been buried beneath the targeted homes.
Col. Mohammed Abu Dan, deputy director of the Civil Defense Emergency Appeals Department and supervisor of the recovery operations, said the bodies recovered by crews included 73 children and 106 women, reflecting the scale of the human toll caused by the destruction of homes with residents inside.
Civil Defense crews have continued the second phase of their body recovery campaign for the 51st consecutive day, carrying out a total of 381 hours of work under extremely difficult conditions and amid severe shortages of equipment and search-and-rescue tools.
Current search and recovery operations are focusing on buildings believed to contain the largest numbers of missing bodies, as crews work to reach the victims, recover their remains and return them to their families.
Civil Defense teams face major challenges while searching beneath the rubble because of the massive scale of destruction and their limited resources, prolonging efforts to recover victims who remain buried beneath the ruins of their homes.
Earlier this month, Omar Nofal, head of the government committee overseeing the missing persons file, said estimates indicate that around 15,000 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks remain buried beneath the rubble of destroyed buildings across the Gaza Strip, beyond the reach of Civil Defense crews and medical teams.
