Gaza families finally recover remains of 100 relatives from rubble in Israel’s genocidal war

Jadallah Rahim stood nearby beside the remains of 32 relatives killed when their home was struck Feb. 19, 2024. More than 15 were children and around 10 were women, he said.

“Their only ‘fault’ was that they stayed in their homes,” said Rahim. “They were suddenly bombed and they were all killed in an instant.”

Thirty-three people had been inside, said Rahim, pointing to a girl standing nearby.

“She was number 33. She was the only survivor.”

The others remained beneath the destroyed home for around two-and-a-half years before Civil Defense crews were finally able to reach them after days of digging with limited equipment.

Looking toward the names placed beside the remains, Rahim stressed that those before him were not merely casualty figures.

“These are not numbers,” he said. “Look at their names. Men, women, children, elderly people.”

‘The grief came back’

Recovery ended one wait but reopened another wound.

“This is not joy,” said Rahim. “The grief came back. The pain came back. The tears came back.”

He pointed to a young girl moving among the remains of her family, saying she lost her father, mother, sisters and brothers.

“Today she walks among them crying for her grandfather, her father, her mother, her brother, her sister and her grandmother.”

For Rahim, however, recovering the dead also meant finally giving them a burial after years beneath the rubble.

As darkness settled above Zeitoun, candles continued to burn beside the rows of remains, surrounded by flowers, Palestinian flags and families who had waited years for this moment.

On Sunday morning, they are expected to carry their loved ones in a mass funeral procession.

The second phase of the Civil Defense recovery project covers 147 destroyed homes in Gaza City and the northern and central Gaza Strip, where an estimated 1,072 bodies are beneath the rubble.

During the first phase, launched in November 2025, crews recovered around 333 bodies and sets of remains from 54 destroyed homes and buildings.

Since October 2023, Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed at least 73,651 Palestinians and injured 174,575, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

For the families in Zeitoun, however, the numbers tell only part of the story.

After more than two years beneath the rubble, their dead had finally come home.