Gaza City: About 100 bodies recovered from rubble as civil defence completes second phase

Civil defence teams in Gaza City have recovered roughly 100 bodies from buildings destroyed in Israeli strikes and conducted a mass burial, completing the second phase of recovery operations in the city.
On 6 September, large crowds gathered outside the Al-Shafi‘i Mosque in the Zaytoun neighbourhood, where remains wrapped in white shrouds were laid out. Mourners lit candles, placed flowers and held faded photographs of children, women, men and elderly relatives. Many broke down reading names on makeshift boards, finally able to perform proper burial rites after years of painful uncertainty.
According to civil defence officials, the second phase covered 147 completely destroyed homes, under whose concrete and steel an estimated 1,072 bodies are believed to be buried. In the first phase, rescue teams recovered about 333 bodies and remains from 54 locations across the city. Working with limited heavy machinery and under constant threat of further strikes, teams described the process as “extremely slow but necessary for collective dignity.”
Since the start of Israel’s offensive on Gaza in October 2023, the Palestinian health ministry says at least 73,651 Palestinians have been killed and 174,575 wounded, though the real toll is likely higher as thousands remain missing under rubble. International human rights groups have repeatedly called for independent investigations into the widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure.
For bereaved families, the funeral was both an ending and a beginning: a chance to grieve properly, yet a stark reminder of the violence that has upended every aspect of life in Gaza. As the sun set over the mosque, mourners’ sobs blended with the distant sound of drones, underscoring the fragile pause between recovery operations and the ever-present risk of further devastation.