By Hosni Nedim
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - Palestinian civil defense crews in Gaza launched a campaign Sunday to recover the bodies of Palestinians killed during Israel’s genocidal war and still trapped under the rubble of their homes in northern Gaza.
The initiative, titled “Dignifying the Martyrs,” began in the town of Beit Lahia, where rescue teams started retrieving remains from the destroyed home of the Abu Nasr family. The house was hit in an Israeli airstrike on Oct. 29, 2024, when it was sheltering about 200 family members and displaced people.
According to official estimates in Gaza, around 9,500 Palestinians remain missing under the rubble, as rescue teams struggle to reach them amid widespread destruction and a lack of heavy equipment.
The campaign “marks the start of broader efforts to recover victims from multiple sites across northern Gaza,” said Mohammed Tamous, an officer with the civil defense, adding that the first phase focuses on homes believed to contain large numbers of bodies.
“We are standing today on the rubble of the Abu Nasr family home, and dozens of bodies are still inside,” Tamous said. “We hope to continue the campaign until all the martyrs are recovered from across the Gaza Strip.”
He said thousands remain buried under debris, while the civil defense lacks sufficient bulldozers and machinery to carry out large-scale recovery operations. One of the vehicles currently in use was provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), he added, calling on humanitarian organizations to supply additional equipment.
Aya Abu Nasr, a survivor of the strike, said her extended family had sought refuge in the five-story building as Israeli attacks intensified. About 200 people were inside when it was hit.
She told Anadolu that roughly 150 people were killed in the strike, with dozens more injured, while others remained trapped under the rubble.
Initial recovery attempts during Israeli bombardment were “limited and dangerous,” she said.
“Some bodies were retrieved, but those in the lower floors could not be reached,” Abu Nasr said. “More than a year later, the family is still waiting to recover the remains of those still buried to bury them properly.”
Holding up photos on her phone, she said her brother Mohammed is still missing, expressing hope that his body will be found.
Civil defense personnel have been operating in hazardous health conditions since the start of the Israeli war, with decomposing bodies in exposed areas and limited access to protective gear and biological testing tools.
The Israeli restrictions and blockade on the entry of essential medical supplies have further complicated their work, leaving rescue workers vulnerable to disease and infection during recovery operations.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said Sunday that 726 bodies have been recovered since the Oct. 10 ceasefire deal with Israel.
The ceasefire ended Israel’s two-year war that began on Oct. 8, 2023. Palestinian authorities say the conflict killed more than 72,000 Palestinians, wounded over 171,000 others, and caused widespread destruction affecting 90% of civilian infrastructure. The UN estimates reconstruction costs at approximately $70 billion.
At least 601 Palestinians have been killed and over 1,600 others injured in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul