Daijiworld Media Network - Gaza City
Gaza City, Dec 16: Civil Defence teams in Gaza City have continued the initial phase of recovering the bodies of martyrs buried under the rubble of destroyed buildings, with the number of unrecovered bodies estimated at around 10,000.
Recovery operations are currently under way in the Al-Rimal neighbourhood in central Gaza City, where several buildings were destroyed during Israeli strikes towards the end of 2023.
Speaking to Middle East Monitor (MEMO), Major Mahmoud Basal of Gaza Civil Defence said teams were working at a heavily damaged building beneath which at least 96 bodies are believed to be trapped. He said families of the victims have been waiting for nearly two years to bury their loved ones with dignity.
“We are working diligently with our very limited resources,” Basal said, adding that civil defence personnel are using basic machinery, including a concrete-breaking machine and a bulldozer, to access the bodies trapped beneath reinforced structures.
He explained that with adequate equipment, the recovery from a single building could be completed within hours. However, due to severe shortages, the process is taking nearly three days for just one structure. “This is the situation across the Gaza Strip. Instead of completing the work in months, we are looking at years to recover all the bodies,” he said.
Basal said repeated appeals have been made to international organisations and humanitarian bodies to facilitate the entry of specialised equipment required for recovery operations. However, he alleged that such efforts continue to face obstacles.
“We have repeatedly appealed to many international bodies for the necessary equipment to be brought into Gaza, but we are always met with an Israeli veto against any attempt to improve life in Gaza,” he said.
Civil Defence officials say the slow pace of recovery not only prolongs the suffering of families but also highlights the dire humanitarian conditions and logistical constraints faced by emergency services across the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.