Recovery Crews Retrieve 50 Bodies From Rubble of Strike in Northern Gaza

In northern Gaza, a recovery crew conducted a three-day operation to retrieve bodies from the rubble of a building struck by Israeli forces in late October 2024. The strike on a five-story apartment building in Beit Lahia killed more than 132 members of the extended Abu Naser family who were sheltering there, according to an NPR investigation.

A year and a half later, survivors and rescue workers began the process of recovering and burying some of the remains. An Israeli drone flew over the site as the crew worked in an area where homes had been reduced to debris. Gaza's Civil Defense selected the location as one of its first major recovery efforts in the north.

The team had only one functioning excavator available for such operations in Gaza, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. The excavator lifted concrete and rebar. When the machine stopped, rescue workers searched by smell, kneeling to detect odors from the debris.

After 90 minutes on the first day they located the first remains, identified by family members from the victim's jacket. Nearly 18 months after the strike the bodies were largely skeletons inside their clothing. Gaza's health ministry estimates that about 8,000 bodies are still buried under rubble throughout the territory.

Iyad Abu Jarad, who oversees the crew, said he receives 10 to 15 calls daily from families seeking help to recover remains. A Red Cross spokesman stated that one excavator was insufficient for the scale of the need and that a second machine had been repaired for use in coming weeks.

Israel is preventing major rehabilitation efforts until Hamas is disarmed. An Israeli security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said machinery carried security sensitivities and could serve other purposes. No DNA testing is available in Gaza, so families identify remains by sight, clothing or personal items.

By the end of the first day the crew had recovered four bodies. On the second day the excavator dug deeper into the collapsed structure. Rescue workers located additional remains in positions consistent with the moment the building was struck. A survivor who lost most of her family described the difficulty of the search.

By the end of the second day 20 more bodies had been recovered. On the third day crews found 26 additional sets of remains, for a total of 50 bodies recovered during the mission. Twenty family members remain missing in parts of the rubble that proved too difficult to reach.

One survivor whose brother's body was not recovered said he felt helpless at being unable to say goodbye. Family members recited prayers beside 50 white body bags before moving the remains to a cemetery for burial. Gaza health officials report that more than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks during the war.

Israel denies accusations of genocide and states that its military campaign was necessary to defeat Hamas after the group's Oct. 7, 2023, attack that killed more than 1,200 people in Israel. At the time of the strike on the building Israeli forces were conducting an offensive in Beit Lahia, had ordered civilians to leave the area, and said they were targeting an enemy spotter on the roof.

The excavator was moved to a neighboring collapsed house where another family awaited its turn to recover remains.