Gaza residents agonize as they dig for the bodies of their loved ones in the rubble

(CLO) Although the gunfire has stopped in Gaza, for Mahmoud Abu Dalfa, the suffering is not over. During the first months of the war, he desperately dug through the rubble of what used to be his home, searching for the bodies of his wife and five children.

Abu Dalfa’s wife and children were among 35 members of his extended family killed in an Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of Gaza City in December 2023. As bombs continued to fall, only three bodies were recovered. His loved ones still lie somewhere under layers of concrete and steel.

He said his wife and five children, three girls and two boys, were all killed. "I have triplets," he said. "I just want to build them a tomb. That's all I want from this world . I don't need a house, I don't need money, I just want a resting place for them."

People examine the rubble of an apartment in Gaza destroyed by Israeli airstrikes. Photo: CC/Wiki

About 200 bodies have been found since a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel took effect on January 19, according to Mahmoud Basal, head of the Palestinian rescue agency.

He added that there may still be as many as 10,000 bodies left unaccounted for. "We are short of heavy machinery and bulldozers. Much of our equipment has been destroyed and at least 100 rescue workers have died in the fighting," Basal said.

Clearing the more than 50 million tons of rubble left by Israeli airstrikes will take 21 years and cost about $1.2 billion, according to the United Nations. Hundreds of aid trucks have begun entering Gaza since the ceasefire, while Palestinian and European officials are discussing management at border crossings with Egypt and Israel.

But for thousands of families in Gaza, humanitarian assistance has not been enough to ease the pain of loss. People like Abu Dalfa face not only material loss but also deep emotional trauma when they cannot find the bodies of their loved ones.

Rabah Abulias, a 68-year-old father, is also heartbroken over not being able to build a grave for his son Ashraf, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike.

"I know Ashraf was buried with dozens of others in a mass grave," he said. "There is no headstone with his name on it, no place for me to go and apologize to him."

Hoai Phuong (according to Reuters, TRT, MEM)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/nguoi-dan-gaza-dau-kho-dao-boi-tim-thi-the-nguoi-than-tu-dong-do-nat-post331648.html