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by Rasha Jalal,
“I just want to bury them with dignity, to put a headstone on their graves, to tell them: You are here, you are not just numbers in the news.”
Umm Yasser Mahdi, 57 years old, sits in front of her small tent, which she set up on the rubble of her destroyed home in Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip. All that remains of her former home is rubble, under which her son Yasser, his wife, and her four grandchildren were buried, after Israeli airstrikes pounded them in December 2023.
Her hand runs over the shattered cement, as if touching the features of her grandchildren trapped there. Rescue teams were unable to retrieve them then, and even to this day because Israel does not allow the entry of heavy equipment to the Gaza Strip.
“How can I leave them here alone? How can I go to another place and leave my children under these stones? I just want to bury them with dignity, to put a headstone on their graves, to tell them: You are here, you are not just numbers in the news,” Mahdi said to The New Arab.
Despite the months that have passed, Mahdi refuses to leave the sit that has become a disaster area. She spends her nights under a tent that does not protect her from the harsh winter cold or the heat of the day.
Occasionally, Mahdi pulls out an old photo of Yasser and his children, kisses it, then hides it in her pocket, as if it were the last thread connecting her to them.
“I call on every person with a conscience to take action… I do not want money or aid, I just want to find the bodies of my family… Isn’t this my right?” she added.
14,000 missing
There are about 14,000 missing in the Gaza Strip due to Israel’s genocidal war, of which more than 10,000 are considered dead under the rubble of destroyed buildings, the Director General of the Government Media Office, Ismail Al-Thawabta, told TNA.
Al-Thawbata reported that since the ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian armed factions on 19 January, rescue teams have been able to retrieve the bodies of only about 600 people due to the lack of heavy equipment needed to lift the rubble.
The ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel stipulates that the latter will allow the entry of heavy equipment into the Gaza Strip to remove the rubble and search for the missing. But to this day, Israel still delays the entry of this vital equipment.
Al-Thawabtah said that the issue of retrieving the bodies of those trapped under the rubble “is one of the most serious humanitarian disasters that requires urgent international intervention,” noting that Palestinian families live among the rubble of their destroyed homes are eagerly awaiting the extraction of the bodies of their children so that they can be buried with dignity.
On 23 February, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced the recovery of 10 new bodies from different locations in the Gaza Strip, noting that numerous victims still remain under the rubble and that ambulance and civil defence crews cannot reach them.
The ministry said that since Israel’s genocidal war began on 7 October 2023, more than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed and 111,753 injured.
The process of recovering the bodies is extremely difficult due to the lack of equipment, amid extreme caution against the collapse of houses while teams attempt to get to any corpses.
Often, civil defence teams stumbled upon the remains of bodies mixed with the rubble and pieces of torn clothing, and they carefully place the small bones and skulls in white bags.
Old and worn-out resources
The spokesperson for the Civil Defence Authority in Gaza, Mahmoud Basal, told TNA that the equipment that has entered the Gaza Strip so far does not exceed 14 old and worn-out trucks, which are not suitable for removing rubble or retrieving bodies.
He stressed that the Israel did not implement bringing in the heavy equipment necessary for search and rescue operations according to the humanitarian protocol agreed upon in the ceasefire agreement.
Basal explained that the Civil Defence crews are working slowly and cautiously to avoid unexploded bombs left by Israel or new collapses in buildings damaged by Israeli raids.
“Working in such conditions requires personal protective equipment and tools, but we lack them in the Gaza Strip, and the crews face constant danger, yet they continue their work with determination,” he added.
The spokesperson stressed that Gaza will face a long-term crisis if the occupation continues to prevent the entry of heavy equipment, and reconstruction operations cannot begin until the rubble is removed, and the roads are opened, which is impossible in light of the lack of the resources.
According to statistics from the Government Media Office, issued on 22 January 2025, “the Israeli occupation has dropped 100,000 tons of explosives on the Gaza Strip” since 7 October 2023, which has led to the destruction and damage to about 88 percent of the infrastructure and buildings in the coastal enclave. The statistics also noted that at least $38 billion is needed to rebuild the Gaza Strip.
Source: https://www.newarab.com
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