DaysofPal – In Gaza, families continue to recover a small number of bodies of missing relatives from beneath the ruins of their destroyed homes, an effort made possible only because some knew exactly where loved ones had remained when they were forced to flee relentless bombardment.
These cases, however, are the exception. Civil defense teams and families estimate that around 10,000 Palestinians remain missing under the rubble, with almost no means to reach them.
Grieving families use whatever tools they can find, handheld metal cutters, basic shovels, or even their bare hands, to dig through twisted steel and collapsed concrete because heavy machinery is not permitted in the majority of the devastated areas.
Gaza’s Civil Defence says it lacks the basic equipment needed to lift vast piles of rubble and recover bodies buried beneath. Trucks, bulldozers, and other machinery are restricted to operations focused solely on recovering Israeli captives and are not permitted to assist in areas where thousands of Palestinians remain entombed.
Civil Defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal said rescue efforts have made no significant progress, stressing that only one excavator has been allowed to enter the Strip, and it is currently restricted to the central region.
Bassal noted that once work there and in the southern region is completed, the excavator will be moved to Gaza City and the northern governorates. But with thousands of bodies still trapped beneath collapsed neighborhoods, one machine is nowhere near sufficient.
“One excavator cannot recover the large number of bodies under the rubble,” Bassal said, urging for more equipment to speed up recovery and reduce the risks for families searching on their own.
Bassal emphasized that the crisis of the missing is purely humanitarian, with devastating psychological consequences for families. Civil Defence teams receive daily pleas from residents begging for help to retrieve their loved ones.
He said the estimated figure of 10,000 people missing remains only an approximation because destroyed roads, collapsed buildings, and ongoing restrictions make proper documentation nearly impossible.
For thousands of families, the goal is no longer rescue; it is the basic dignity of recovery and burial. Without machinery, and with entire districts reduced to rubble, retrieving the dead has become nearly impossible.
In the absence of international support and the necessary equipment, Gaza’s Civil Defence warns the number of unburied bodies will continue to grow, turning destroyed neighborhoods into mass graves and leaving thousands of families without closure.
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