Ankara: Gaza's civil defense announced on Sunday that it has recovered the bodies and remains of 17 Palestinians who had been missing beneath the rubble of homes destroyed in Israeli attacks during the genocide in the enclave.

According to Anadolu Agency, the recoveries are part of the second phase of the 'Recovery of Martyrs' Bodies' project, initiated on July 19 to locate Palestinians buried under the debris of buildings destroyed by Israel. The project continues despite the limited equipment and machinery available to rescue teams.

The second phase targets searches beneath destroyed homes in Gaza City, located in the north, and the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. The civil defense issued a brief statement indicating that 16 missing Palestinians were recovered from the rubble in the Zeitoun and Yarmouk neighborhoods of Gaza City, specifically from homes belonging to the Hajji and Al-Nadeem families. Additionally, the remains of one other missing person were recovered from a home belonging to the Al-War family in the Nuseirat refugee camp.

Recovery efforts are advancing slowly due to a shortage of heavy equipment, despite a Gaza ceasefire agreement effective since October 10, 2025. Palestinian authorities claim the agreement allows for the entry of machinery to remove rubble and recover victims. In October 2025, Gaza's government media office reported approximately 9,500 Palestinians missing since the start of the Israeli war, including individuals whose bodies remain under destroyed buildings and others whose fate is unknown.

The second phase of the recovery project plans to conduct 800 working hours of searches beneath 147 destroyed homes across the Gaza, North Gaza, and Central governorates, where 1,072 bodies are believed to remain buried, based on prior civil defense figures. The first phase, which began in late November 2025, resulted in the recovery of around 333 bodies and human remains from beneath the rubble of 54 homes and buildings, out of 559 missing people.

Israel's genocide in Gaza has resulted in the deaths of more than 73,000 Palestinians and injuries to over 174,000 others, while causing widespread destruction to civilian infrastructure.