Gaza Herald- With only one excavator, Gaza’s Civil Defense is preparing to launch the first phase of operations to recover the bodies of Palestinians buried beneath the mountains of debris left by two years of Israeli genocide. The effort begins Saturday, the first organized attempt to dig through the ruins of homes pulverized during Israel’s months-long campaign of annihilation.
Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal said Friday that the operation will start in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, carried out in coordination with the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Egyptian committee, the police force, and local municipalities.
According to the Gaza Government Media Office, 9,500 Palestinians remain missing or trapped beneath collapsed buildings since the beginning of the genocide.
Basal stressed that the mission begins under catastrophic conditions: the Civil Defense has no remaining heavy machinery after Israeli forces destroyed nearly all of its equipment, and Israel continues to block the entry of excavators and recovery vehicles into the Strip.
Israel Blocks Machinery Needed to Recover Palestinian Victims , But Brings Its Own In Freely
Since the ceasefire took effect on October 10, 2025, Israel has refused to allow Gaza to receive the heavy equipment required to lift the tens of millions of tons of rubble entombing Palestinian civilians.
Meanwhile, Israel quickly brought in specialized machinery to recover the bodies of its own captives, a stark example of the double standard governing humanitarian access.
Gaza’s media office said Israel is in direct violation of the ceasefire’s humanitarian protocol, including by preventing the entry of hundreds of heavy machines needed to retrieve Palestinian remains.
Basal told Anadolu Agency that the Civil Defense managed to secure only one excavator, provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross, and only for 100 operational hours.
The machine will begin work in the Ard Al-Waz area of Al-Maghazi, where entire residential blocks were erased.
Thousands of Families Still Waiting for Closure
Basal said the Civil Defense has received thousands of pleas from families begging for help locating loved ones who remain under the rubble.
He emphasized that establishing DNA testing laboratories is now an urgent humanitarian necessity, as the absence of such labs leaves countless victims unidentified.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza has reported that, under the ceasefire arrangements, it received 330 unidentified bodies from the Israeli side between October 14 and November 15. Only 97 have been identified; the rest were buried unnamed.
With the medical system destroyed, Palestinian families resort to identifying loved ones by scraps of clothing, personal items, or the few remaining visible features, a heartbreaking task made nearly impossible without forensic tools.
A Genocide Counted in Bodies, Rubble, and Ruin
Israel’s genocide, which began on October 8, 2023, and continued for two years, has killed more than 69,000 Palestinians, wounded over 170,000, and obliterated 90% of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure.
The destruction has left behind 70 million tons of rubble, beneath which thousands, entire families still lie buried.
Now, with just one excavator, Gaza begins the unimaginable: recovering its dead while the world watches in silence.
