KEY POINTS
- Hamas and Red Cross teams search for bodies of Israeli captives in Gaza.
- Israel allows heavy machinery only for Israeli body recovery, not for debris clearance or rebuilding.
- Over 10,000 Palestinian bodies remain trapped under rubble, Gaza Civil Defence says.
- Gaza’s aid entry far below agreed level — only 145 trucks per day instead of 600, UN reports.
- Displaced Palestinians rebuild homes using mud and rubble amid Israeli restrictions on materials.
- Turkiye to host Muslim foreign ministers on Monday to discuss Gaza ceasefire.
- Pakistan’s FM Dar to attend, urging full ceasefire implementation and Israeli withdrawal.
GAZA CITY, Palestine: Israel has restricted the flow of humanitarian aid and reconstruction materials into Gaza as Hamas continues efforts to recover the bodies of Israeli hostages under a fragile US-brokered ceasefire, officials and humanitarian agencies said on Sunday.
A joint team from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, has begun operations in Gaza City’s Shujayea neighbourhood to locate the bodies of dead Israeli captives, according to Palestinian sources cited by Al Jazeera.
Under the ceasefire deal, Hamas released 20 living captives in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, and committed to returning the remains of 28 other hostages in exchange for the bodies of Palestinians killed in the war. Eleven Israeli bodies remain missing so far.
Palestinian officials said Israel has allowed limited entry of heavy machinery such as bulldozers and trucks for the purpose of retrieving Israeli hostage bodies but continues to bar their use for broader debris removal and reconstruction.
Much of Gaza remains impassable, with rubble blocking roads and access to neighbourhoods where thousands of Palestinian bodies are believed to be trapped under the rubble.
Thousands still buried under rubble
Gaza’s Civil Defence agency said it retrieved two more Palestinian bodies on Sunday from the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood in western Gaza City.
The agency estimates that more than 10,000 bodies remain trapped under the ruins of buildings destroyed during two years of Israeli bombardment.
“The lack of heavy equipment has made rescue and recovery operations painfully slow,” said Ahmed Radwan, the Civil Defence spokesperson in Rafah.
Humanitarian crisis deepens
Despite the ceasefire, Gaza’s reconstruction remains stalled. The Gaza Government Media Office said Israel has permitted an average of only 145 aid and commercial trucks per day to enter the enclave since the truce began — just 24 percent of the 600 daily trucks agreed upon under the deal.
“We strongly condemn Israel’s obstruction of aid and hold it fully responsible for worsening humanitarian conditions for more than 2.4 million people in Gaza,” the office said, urging the United States and other mediators to press Israel to remove restrictions.
The United Nations confirmed the shortfall, citing congested routes and Israeli delays as key obstacles. It said just 149 trucks were offloaded at Gaza’s crossings last Wednesday, far below the minimum required to meet humanitarian needs.
UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, said it was sheltering around 70,000 displaced Palestinians in 70 facilities across Gaza.
The agency also reopened limited schools, with 25,000 children returning to temporary learning spaces.
There is widespread damage across the #Gaza Strip, unstable structures, and unexploded ordnance.
UNRWA currently runs over 70 shelters, where tens of thousands of forcibly displaced people are living.
Our teams continue to work tirelessly to keep shelters running and to help… pic.twitter.com/sNSSxANCfn
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) November 2, 2025
Displaced families rebuild with mud and rubble
With winter approaching, many displaced Palestinians have begun building makeshift shelters from mud and salvaged bricks amid severe shortages of construction materials.
“We built a primitive structure out of mud because there’s no cement or tents,” said Khalid al-Dahdouh, a father of five in Gaza City. “It’s the only way to protect our children from the cold.”
UNDP representative Alessandro Mrakic said families “are relying on primitive methods because they have no other choice,” warning that the restrictions on reconstruction materials were worsening living conditions.
Study highlights human toll
A new study in The Lancet medical journal estimated that over three million years of human life have been lost in Gaza since the conflict began.
The study, which analysed 60,199 Palestinian deaths between October 2023 and July 2025, found each death represented an average of 51 years of life lost. More than one million of those years involved children under 15.
Fragile ceasefire as Israel continues attacks
Despite the truce, Israeli forces have carried out drone attacks and air strikes in Gaza. A Palestinian man was killed on Sunday in an Israeli drone strike on Shujayea, while Israeli demolitions continued in nearby Zeitoun.
At least 226 people have been killed and 594 wounded since the ceasefire took effect on October 10, bringing the total Palestinian death toll to 68,858, with 170,664 injured since October 2023, according to Gaza’s health authorities.
In southern Lebanon, an Israeli strike killed four people, raising fears that the nearly year-long truce with Hezbollah could collapse.
Muslim foreign ministers meeting on Gaza truce
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will host a meeting of Arab and Islamic foreign ministers in Istanbul on Monday to discuss the Gaza ceasefire and the Palestinian territory’s future governance, according to Turkey’s foreign ministry.
Ministers from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Pakistan and Indonesia — countries that previously discussed Gaza’s post-war framework with US President Donald Trump — are expected to attend.
Fidan is expected to “emphasise the importance of coordinated action by Muslim countries for the ceasefire to evolve into a lasting peace,” a Turkish diplomatic source said as cited by Reuters.
He will also call for arrangements ensuring Gaza’s security and administration by Palestinians, while warning that Israel is “making excuses” to undermine the truce.
Relations between Ankara and Tel Aviv have sharply deteriorated since the Gaza war, with President Tayyip Erdogan accusing Israel of committing genocide — a charge also echoed by UN experts and rights groups such as Amnesty International.
Pakistan to push for full ceasefire implementation
Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will attend the Istanbul meeting at Fidan’s invitation.
Islamabad said Dar will press for the full implementation of the ceasefire, complete Israeli withdrawal from occupied Palestinian territories, and unrestricted humanitarian aid.
“Pakistan will also reiterate the need for collective efforts aimed at achieving an independent, viable, and contiguous State of Palestine, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital,” the Foreign Office said.
🔊PR No.3️⃣2️⃣4️⃣/2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣5️⃣
Curtain Raiser: Visit of the Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister to Istanbul to Attend the Coordination Meeting of Arab-Islamic Foreign Ministers
🔗⬇️https://t.co/nhFGNWrRPM pic.twitter.com/RMFBbjKImr
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan (@ForeignOfficePk) November 2, 2025
The Istanbul talks follow a September meeting between participating states and President Trump in New York, where leaders discussed the US peace plan for Gaza.
Turkish FM meets senior Hamas leaders
Turkiye’s foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, met Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya and several other senior members of the Palestinian group’s political bureau in Istanbul on Saturday, according to a Middle Eastern news agency.
The Arab media quoted Turkiye’s foreign ministry as saying that the talks with the delegation led by Hayya focused on the conditions of the ceasefire and the movement of humanitarian aid.
The meeting took place just before a planned meeting of Arab-Islamic foreign ministers in Istanbul on Monday.
📌 خبر صحفي صادر عن حركة المُقاومة الإسلامية “حماس”
وفد قيادي من حماس يلتقي وزير الخارجية التركي
التقى وفد من قيادة حركة المقاومة الإسلامية حماس برئاسة د. خليل الحية رئيس الحركة في قطاع غزة مع وزير الخارجية التركي هاكان فيدان، اليوم السبت 1 نوفمبر تشرين ثاني 2025 في اسطنبول. pic.twitter.com/dKJXYtvqPm
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) November 1, 2025
Analysts, cited by Al Jazeera, warn that the truce remains fragile. “Hamas does not have the luxury to violate anything,” said Muhanad Seloom, a security studies professor in Doha.
“Whether the ceasefire moves to its next phase depends entirely on the United States.”
