GAZA, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), Gaza’s Civil Defense announced on Thursday that its teams recovered the bodies of 25 Palestinians from under the rubble of a home in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza. Among the victims were journalist Hiba Al-Abadleh and her mother, who were killed during the Israeli genocidal war on the Strip.
In a brief statement, Civil Defense confirmed that, in cooperation with forensic teams, the bodies were recovered from under the destroyed home of the Al-Astal family in the Al-Satar Al-Gharbi area. The remains of journalist Hiba Al-Abadleh and her mother were among those found.
Earlier Thursday morning, the Civil Defense began excavation work to recover the bodies of those missing beneath the rubble of the home, which had been destroyed two years ago during Israeli bombardment.
The Civil Defense has been conducting organized searches for the bodies of Palestinians buried under the ruins of homes and buildings destroyed during Israel’s two-year-long genocide campaign in Gaza.
These efforts are supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Arab Committee for Gaza Reconstruction, the Emergency and Rapid Response Unit, forensic and medical examiners in Gaza City, as well as the Ministries of Health and Religious Endowments, relatives of the missing, and tribal groups, according to Civil Defense officials.
They noted that their crews are working with extremely basic and outdated tools, as Israel continues to ban the entry of modern heavy machinery needed for rubble removal.
Since the ceasefire agreement went into effect in Gaza on October 10, recovery operations for the victims have largely been uncoordinated and carried out by civilians due to the Civil Defense’s lack of proper equipment.
Israel has refused to allow heavy machinery into Gaza to assist in lifting tons of rubble, severely hampering efforts to recover the bodies of Palestinians.
According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, Israel has violated the humanitarian protocol of the ceasefire agreement by preventing the entry of “hundreds of heavy-duty vehicles” necessary to recover the bodies trapped beneath the rubble.
In contrast, over the past two months, Israel allowed limited equipment into Gaza, but only to search for the remains of its own captives, while continuing to block the entry of similar equipment for recovering Palestinian remains.
Identification of the deceased is being done by Palestinian families who have lost loved ones since the genocide began, using what remains of personal identifiers like clothing or body features, amid a complete lack of specialized medical devices.
