Gaza rescue crews have been searching the enclave’s ruins for thousands of Palestinians believed to remain buried beneath buildings destroyed in Israeli strikes, some dating back to the first months of the war.

Recovery work continues amid a fragile ceasefire and an unresolved dispute over a peace roadmap unveiled last month by US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, which calls for Hamas to relinquish control of Gaza in exchange for Israel withdrawing from the enclave. Israel has rejected the proposal, insisting Hamas must first disarm, while Israeli strikes have continued, further complicating recovery operations.

Gaza’s Civil Defense estimates that around 8,000 Palestinians killed during the war remain buried beneath the rubble. A chronic shortage of excavators and other heavy machinery has hampered recovery efforts, often forcing crews to search collapsed buildings with basic tools. Some families have waited years for the remains of relatives to be recovered for burial.

Local journalist and RT contributor Rami Almughari visited one such operation in southern Gaza City, where Civil Defense crews were searching the ruins of a three-story building struck during Ramadan in 2024. Thirteen people were killed in the strike, and crews are now searching for the remains of four still beneath the rubble. With bodies spending years under the debris, Almughari says rescuers are often recovering only bones and fragments of remains.

Watch Almughari’s full report on the recovery struggle below.