Six months after the declaration of a “ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip, thousands of families are still unable to bury their loved ones. Approximately 10,000 Palestinians remain missing, believed to be trapped beneath collapsed buildings since the onset of Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023.
An internationally mediated agreement was signed between Israel and Hamas on October 10 last year, intended to bring an end to the conflict. However, for many, the war continues.
The United Nations reports that Israeli bombardment has generated over 61 million tonnes of rubble in the besieged and devastated Strip, leaving entire communities entombed.
Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary spoke with Abu Mohammed, a Palestinian father in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza. Abu Mohammed survived an Israeli attack, pulled from beneath the rubble by rescuers, but four of his children did not. Since then, he has lived beside the ruins of his home, where their bodies remain trapped. He managed to bury his wife, his mother, and one of his children, but the rest are still beneath the debris.
“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,” Abu Mohammed stated. “How can I do this on my own?” He added that he has repeatedly contacted civil defense teams, but no assistance has arrived. Two of his surviving children are currently in Cairo, Egypt, receiving medical treatment alone, without a parent.
The ceasefire was intended to facilitate the entry of heavy machinery into Gaza to commence recovery efforts and reunite families. Months later, this has not occurred. Mahmoud Basal, Gaza’s civil defense spokesperson, informed Al Jazeera, “Nothing has entered Gaza except the limited equipment brought in for Egyptian committees and Red Crescent’s team to retrieve Israeli captives. Once those bodies were recovered, the file was closed.”
Across Gaza, thousands remain buried. In just one apartment block in Bureij, at least 50 bodies are still trapped beneath the rubble, untouched since October 2023. Six months into the ceasefire, conditions on the ground have shown little change. Families continue their wait as bodies are yet to be recovered, while Israeli attacks persist.
According to health and education officials, Israeli forces shot and killed a young female student on Thursday while she was attending a class in a tent in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza. Despite the ceasefire, Israel continues to occupy more than half of the Gaza Strip, having leveled most buildings in these areas and forced residents to leave.
Since the ceasefire took effect, at least 738 people have been killed and 2,036 wounded. Authorities have recovered 759 bodies from the rubble. Overall, Israel’s war in Gaza has reportedly killed more than 72,317 Palestinians and wounded at least 172,158 others.
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