Gaza buries remains of 75 recovered from rubble

Hundreds of Palestinians gathered in Gaza City on October 18, 2026, for a funeral for 75 people whose remains were recovered from Daraj neighborhood homes. The remains, including women and children from about 20 families and displaced people sheltering there, were displayed at Daraj Sports Club Saturday evening for relatives to bid farewell, then taken under Palestinian flags to Sheikh Radwan Cemetery. Abdullah al-Majdalawi of Gaza's Civil Defense said the remains were recovered over recent weeks from homes destroyed while residents were inside during the early months of the war. Al Jazeera correspondent Nour Khaled said they included women and children who were inside their homes when they were targeted. A second Civil Defense recovery phase launched July 19 covers 147 destroyed homes where an estimated 1,072 bodies may remain; a first phase from November 2025 recovered 333 bodies and remains of 559 people believed trapped in 54 homes, with about 226 not reached due to limited resources. Spokesman Mahmoud Basal said more than 8,000 missing Palestinians may still lie under rubble across Gaza and that recovery could take about eight years at current capacity. Contested: no disputes found in the record. Equipment shortages remain the cited barrier to faster recovery.