As the fragile ceasefire in Gaza holds, Palestinians face the monumental challenge of recovering bodies from 61 million tonnes of debris—20 times more than the combined mass of all conflict-generated rubble since 2008. At least 10,000 people are believed to be buried, with some estimates as high as 14,000.
Rescue teams from the Palestinian civil defence are using rudimentary tools such as shovels, pickaxes, and bare hands. Requests to Israel for excavators and heavy machinery have gone unanswered. Dr Mohammed al-Mughir, director of humanitarian support at the civil defence, said: 'The whole world has seen the equipment brought in to retrieve Israeli hostages. We also need the same equipment to retrieve our bodies.'
During the first 16 days of the ceasefire, 472 bodies were recovered and taken to hospital morgues, not including 195 returned by Israel. Civil defence officials estimate it could take up to nine months to recover most bodies if heavy equipment is allowed in. Currently, efforts are limited to small buildings; multi-storey structures remain inaccessible.
Hundreds of families queue daily at hospitals and civil defence offices seeking missing relatives. At the Gaza City headquarters alone, up to 30 families a day ask for help. Aya Abu Nasr, 26, lost five siblings and over 100 extended family members in a strike on Beit Lahiya in October 2024. About 50 bodies remain unrecovered. 'Retrieving them without excavators is impossible,' she said.
Officials have estimates of bodies under specific buildings: in Rafah, over 35 houses contain about 170 bodies; in Khan Younis and eastern areas, hundreds more remain. Repeated displacements have separated thousands of families, many of whom know their relatives are dead but not where their bodies lie.
