Mahmoud Bassal, the spokesperson for the Civil Defense in the Gaza Strip, said that the search operations for the bodies of the martyrs under the rubble of destroyed buildings are facing huge difficulties, due to the wide extent of the destruction and the challenges in reaching many of the affected sites. Mahmoud Bassal explained that in some cases, rescue teams were unable to find any traces or features of the bodies, pointing out that, according to him, the intensity of the bombardment led to cases where the bodies ‘evaporated,’ which makes the search and identification of victims even more difficult. The Civil Defense spokesperson noted that the teams would need about eight years to recover all the bodies from under the rubble of the destroyed buildings, given the extent of the destruction, limited resources, and difficulty accessing many sites. He added that estimates known to the Civil Defense indicate there are about 8,000 bodies under the rubble, stressing that the actual number could be higher, as new bodies continue to be discovered day by day.
Bassel pointed out that bodies are still trapped under the rubble of destroyed buildings and homes, in places where rescue teams haven’t been able to reach yet, which complicates efforts to recover them and identify their owners.
These conditions keep many families waiting to find out the fate of their loved ones, amid ongoing challenges in search and recovery in the areas that were hit by the destruction.
