Gaza City funeral held for remains of 75 Palestinians recovered from rubble, reports say

The remains of 75 Palestinians recovered from the rubble of destroyed homes were buried in Gaza on 18 October 2026, according to Turkish outlets Anadolu Agency and Daily Sabah. Vocemundi could not independently confirm the reports. Daily Sabah credits Anadolu Agency for its key statements, and both are Turkish state or pro-government outlets.

The funeral

According to Daily Sabah, the dead included women and children. The reports do not say how many. The remains had recently been recovered from beneath the rubble of homes in Gaza City, the outlet reported.

Daily Sabah reported that hundreds of Palestinians attended. The procession began outside the Daraj Sports Club. The remains were buried at Sheikh Radwan Cemetery in Gaza City. According to the outlet, the remains were wrapped in Palestinian flags and laid out at the site on Saturday evening so relatives could say farewell.

The recovery effort

According to Daily Sabah, Gaza's Civil Defense launched the first phase of a project to retrieve bodies trapped under rubble in November 2025. That phase recovered 333 bodies and remains out of 559 people believed to be buried beneath 54 destroyed homes and buildings. About 226 others could not be reached because of limited resources, the outlet reported.

The second phase began on 19 July, according to Daily Sabah. It covers 147 destroyed homes in Gaza City and northern and central Gaza. Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal said an estimated 1,072 bodies were believed to be trapped there, the outlet reported.

Context

A cease-fire agreement has been in effect in Gaza since 10 October 2025, according to Daily Sabah. Under its first phase, Israel was expected to allow heavy equipment and machinery into the enclave. Daily Sabah also reported that more than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 175,000 injured since October 2023, and that about 90% of Gaza's civilian infrastructure has been destroyed. The outlet does not name the source of these figures.

What each side says

Abdullah al-Majdalawi, director of public relations and media for Gaza's Civil Defense, told Anadolu Agency that the remains were recovered over recent weeks from several destroyed homes in the Daraj neighbourhood of northeastern Gaza City, according to Daily Sabah. He said the buildings were bombed with residents inside during the early months of the war. He said the victims belonged to around 20 families, including people displaced to those homes. He also said recovery efforts face severe difficulties because of a lack of equipment and heavy machinery, according to Daily Sabah.

Mahmoud Basal told Anadolu Agency on 7 October that more than 8,000 missing Palestinians were still believed to be under the rubble, Daily Sabah reported. He said recovering them with current resources could take around eight years.

According to Daily Sabah, Palestinian authorities and factions accuse Israel of failing to allow heavy equipment into Gaza and of failing to meet other cease-fire commitments.

Both outlets attribute the destruction of the homes to Israel. Daily Sabah describes Israel's military campaign as a "genocidal war".

The reports reviewed by Vocemundi do not include any response from Israeli authorities or the Israeli military. They do not describe how the 75 people were identified. They also do not include independent verification of the recovery or casualty figures.

Analysis

The reports point to a slow, resource-limited recovery effort more than a year into the cease-fire. If the Civil Defense estimates cited by Daily Sabah are accurate, thousands of missing people may remain unaccounted for for years. Whether heavy machinery enters Gaza is a key variable. Palestinian officials link its absence to Israel. The reports include no Israeli response. Independent verification by the UN or humanitarian groups could clarify the scale of the task. All figures here rest on a single line of Turkish reporting. Additional sources would be needed before firm conclusions can be drawn.

Produced by the Vocemundi newsroom with AI assistance.