Gaza Family Retrieves Six Bodies from Rubble on July 1

A Gaza family retrieved six bodies from the rubble of their destroyed home in the al-Zaitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City on July 1. Fidaa Haji, 34, and her four children had survived the November 16, 2023 Israeli air raid that killed more than 30 extended family members because they lived in an external room. Her husband Adnan Haji, also 34, died in the strike.

Al Jazeera reported that the family had moved south after the raid and lived in tents on a beach. Following the October 2025 ceasefire they returned to al-Zaitoun and settled near the former home. Fidaa Haji’s brother had earlier retrieved Adnan’s body and buried it in the courtyard of al-Shifa Hospital.

Gaza’s Civil Defence states that thousands of bodies remain trapped in destroyed buildings. Recovery operations proceed slowly because of a severe shortage of excavation equipment, according to Al Jazeera. Ismail al-Thawabta, Director of the Government Media Office in Gaza, said thousands of bodies are still under the rubble due to difficulty of access and lack of heavy equipment.

Abdullah al-Majdalawi, Director of Public Relations and Media at Civil Defence, said teams are working with the International Committee of the Red Cross, which supplied excavators for a project lasting 400 hours. Teams prioritise sites with the highest number of casualties and use survivor testimonies and personal items such as clothing or reading glasses to locate remains.

Al Jazeera reported that during one operation teams recovered only the scalp of a young girl, identified by hair colour and partially preserved facial features.

In another excavation at a house believed to contain about 45 bodies, three days of work yielded only two bodies, a mother and her child. ” Humanitarian organisations have warned that delays in retrieval cause psychological harm to families living in suspended grief.