TPC Staff
The Palestine Chronicle / August 12, 2026
Israeli attacks continue to kill Palestinians in Gaza while Civil Defense crews struggle to recover thousands of bodies from destroyed homes.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Tuesday that another Palestinian had been killed and two others injured over the previous 24 hours as Israeli attacks continued across the Gaza Strip despite the ceasefire.
According to the ministry, the latest casualty brought the number of Palestinians killed since the ceasefire was declared to 1,259, while 4,148 others have been injured.
Another 808 bodies have been recovered since the ceasefire, as rescue workers continue searching through buildings destroyed during Israel’s genocide in the enclave.
The ministry said victims remain beneath rubble and on roads in areas that ambulance and Civil Defense crews have been unable to reach.
Since October 7, 2023, the overall Palestinian death toll in Gaza has risen to 73,388, with 174,259 people injured, according to the ministry.
Thirteen bodies beneath one home
The latest casualty figures emerged as Gaza Civil Defense crews began a new operation to recover the bodies of 13 Palestinians trapped beneath the rubble of a multi-story residential building destroyed by an Israeli strike during the early stages of the genocide.
The operation is taking place at the Gharbiya family home in the Al-Katiba area, west of Gaza City, in coordination with the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal said a large number of Palestinians were killed when the building was struck. Some of their bodies were recovered at the time, but 13 remained buried beneath the ruins.
The victims include women, children and elderly Palestinians.
The recovery operation is part of the second phase of a Civil Defense project launched on July 19 to retrieve Palestinians whose bodies remain trapped beneath destroyed buildings.
The current 800-hour phase covers 147 destroyed homes in Gaza City and the northern and central Gaza Strip, where Civil Defense estimates that 1,072 bodies remain buried.
‘We are talking about many years’
Basal warned that Gaza’s Civil Defense continues to face severe shortages of excavators, heavy machinery, fuel and protective equipment.
“If we remain in this situation, we are talking about many years” before the recovery operations can be completed, he said, adding that sufficient equipment could reduce the process to months.
According to Basal, rescue workers are sometimes forced to search “with their bare hands” while handling bodies, human remains and potentially dangerous debris without adequate protective equipment.
He said Civil Defense personnel are continuing the work without salaries, bonuses or compensation, calling on international organizations to provide the machinery and logistical assistance required to retrieve the dead.
During the first phase of the recovery project, launched in November 2025, Civil Defense teams recovered 333 bodies and human remains from 54 destroyed homes and buildings. Around 226 others could not be reached because of insufficient equipment.
Thousands remain missing
The scale of the recovery operation extends far beyond the sites currently being searched.
Gaza’s Government Media Office said in October 2025 that approximately 9,500 Palestinians had been reported missing since the beginning of the Israeli assault, including people believed to be buried beneath destroyed buildings and others whose fate remains unknown.
The continuing recovery of bodies comes alongside new Palestinian casualties from Israeli attacks despite the ceasefire that took effect in October 2025.
With 1,259 Palestinians now reported killed since the ceasefire, Gaza authorities maintain that the agreement has not brought an end to Israeli attacks or to the process of recovering those killed during two years of devastating bombardment.
(QNN, WAFA, AA, TPC)
