GAZA CITY: Families in Gaza continue to face the harrowing task of recovering loved ones trapped under the rubble of buildings destroyed during the conflict with Israel. Ahmed Salim, who lost his wife, children, and parents when his five-storey home in the Zeitoun neighbourhood was destroyed on Dec 24 last year, remains the sole survivor of his family. He and thousands of others have been waiting to retrieve the bodies and give them a proper burial.
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According to UN data, Israeli strikes damaged or destroyed roughly 83 percent of Gaza’s pre-conflict buildings, leaving the territory covered in approximately 61.5 million tonnes of debris — nearly 170 times the weight of New York City’s Empire State Building. Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for Gaza’s civil defence agency, estimates around 10,000 bodies remain buried under the rubble, with recovery efforts hampered by a lack of heavy machinery.
Since the ceasefire on Oct 10, some progress has been made, with around 500 bodies recovered in accessible areas following the partial withdrawal of Israeli forces. For families like Amal Abdel Aal, who lost her son and brother in the Sabra neighbourhood, recovery is still impossible without heavy equipment, and she expressed fear for the safety of the remains.
Others, like Amer Abu al Tarabish in Beit Lahia, have managed to recover loved ones with their own hands, describing the overwhelming grief of retrieving multiple family members intact. For many, however, the trauma continues, with thousands still missing and families having buried relatives hastily in mass graves, intending to exhume and rebury them properly when possible.
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The ongoing struggle highlights the human cost of the conflict and the deep sorrow felt by Palestinians who continue to search for closure amid the ruins of their homes. Families are appealing for international assistance to recover bodies and observe proper burial rites.