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Rescue teams in the besieged Gaza Strip have recovered 19 bodies from the ruins of a residential building destroyed by Israeli strikes, with most of the victims identified as women and children.
The bodies were pulled from the debris of the “Karam” building in western Gaza City after a four-day search operation that concluded on Saturday (August 8). Civil defence crews, working under severe constraints, relied largely on manual effort due to a shortage of heavy machinery needed to clear massive concrete slabs.
Mohammad Abu Dan, who supervised the operation, said the search at the Karam building has now ended. Rescue teams, alongside specialised medical personnel, are preparing to move to another site in Gaza City to continue search and recovery efforts.
Officials from Gaza’s civil defence repeatedly warned that the lack of adequate equipment is severely hampering operations. Rescuers are forced to use basic tools and intense physical labour to remove debris left by Israeli bombardments.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, more than 8,000 people remain missing beneath the rubble across the territory.
The ministry’s latest figures show that since a ceasefire took effect on October 11 last year, at least 1,254 people have been killed, 4,121 injured, and 804 bodies recovered from collapsed structures.
Since the war began in October 2023, the total death toll in Gaza has surpassed 73,300, with more than 174,000 people reported injured.