Six months after the start of Israel's war on Gaza in October 2023, thousands of Palestinian families in the Gaza Strip remain unable to bury their loved ones, with about 10,000 people still missing and believed buried under collapsed buildings. The United Nations reports that Israeli bombardment has generated over 61 million tonnes of rubble, entombing entire communities and complicating recovery efforts amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis.
Al Jazeera correspondent Hind Khoudary spoke with Abu Mohammed, a Palestinian father in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, who survived an Israeli attack but lost four of his children. Abu Mohammed stated, "I have been trying for three years to retrieve my children, but these are massive concrete slabs. There is no way I can do this, even with an excavator. This needs heavy equipment." He added that he has repeatedly called civil defence teams, but no assistance has arrived, highlighting the severe lack of resources for rubble clearance.
The ceasefire agreement was supposed to facilitate the entry of heavy machinery into Gaza to aid recovery and family reunification, but months later, this has not materialized. Mahmoud Basal, Gaza's civil defence spokesperson, told Al Jazeera, "Nothing has entered Gaza except the limited equipment brought in for Egyptian committees and the Red Crescent's team to retrieve Israeli captives. Once those bodies were recovered, the file was closed." In Bureij alone, at least 50 bodies remain trapped under rubble in one apartment block, untouched since October 2023.
Despite the ceasefire, Israeli attacks persist, with health and education officials reporting that Israeli forces shot and killed a young female student on Thursday while she attended a class in a tent in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza. Israel continues to occupy over half of the Gaza Strip, having levelled most buildings in these areas and forced residents out. Since the ceasefire took effect, at least 738 people have been killed and 2,036 wounded, with authorities recovering 759 bodies from the rubble. Israel's genocide in Gaza has killed more than 72,317 Palestinians and wounded at least 172,158 others, underscoring the devastating toll of the conflict.
Source: www.aljazeera.com