GAZA, (PIC)
The child Muhammad Riyadh Ghaboun, twelve years old, is not waiting for a new house on top of the rubble of his family home in al-Sabra neighborhood in Gaza City, but rather is waiting for the remains of members of his family who remained under the rubble for eight months, hoping that the civil defense crews will give them graves after a long absence.
Steps away from him, only one excavator is working on a task that exceeds its capability, to search for approximately 8,500 bodies and remains under the rubble of houses destroyed by the Israeli occupation army during the genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, as civil defense crews resumed on Saturday, with support from the International Committee of the Red Cross, recovery operations with extremely limited capabilities, amid warnings that continuing to work at this pace could take years.
The recovery operations of bodies in Gaza had stopped several times during the past months due to lack of fuel and heavy equipment.
The last announcement by the civil defense in Gaza regarding the recovery of bodies from under the rubble was on May 12, then its crews began, on Saturday, searching for eight missing persons from the Ghaboun family.
The Israeli war of genocide on the Gaza Strip left more than 73,000 martyrs and more than 173,000 wounded Palestinians, and widespread destruction that affected around 90% of the civilian infrastructure, which compounded the limited capabilities of the civil defense and hampered the access of its crews to thousands of victims trapped under the rubble.
From among the rubble of the destroyed Ghaboun family home in al-Sabra neighborhood, the civil defense crews started efforts to search for the bodies of eight martyrs under the rubble of the house that Israel bombed in October 2025. #فيديو | طواقم الدفاع المدني في غزة تعمل على انتشال جثامين عدد من الشهداء المتواجدة تحت انقاض احد المنازل المدمرة وسط المدينة بعد ثمانية أشهر على استشهادهم. pic.twitter.com/0vIspEblXR — المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) June 27, 2026 Difficult and slow operations
The spokesperson for the civil defense in Gaza, Mahmoud Basal, told Anatolia that recovery operations are moving very slowly, in light of major difficulties resulting from the lack of capabilities and heavy equipment.
He added that approximately 8,500 bodies and remains are still under the rubble of destroyed houses in various areas of the Gaza Strip, pointing to the presence of numerous obstacles obstructing the progress of work, including lack of equipment and potential field hazards.
He continued, “We launch a humanitarian appeal to all relevant parties on the need to assume their responsibilities, as the available capabilities are not sufficient to deal with the very large number of victims and missing persons under the rubble.”
Basal demanded “providing the necessary heavy machinery, excavators, and equipment specific to recovery tasks, so that we can conclude this file completely.”
He explained that “continuing work in this slow manner will take long years, as we are working with one excavator that could break down at any time,” noting that if heavy machinery is provided, “the duration of the work will not exceed three months only.”
The capabilities of the civil defense were damaged during the war, and the resources available to it do not match the scale and breadth of the destruction in the Strip, as rubble removal operations require excavators, specialized machinery, and technical teams. Basal pointed out that work on the file of recovering bodies stopped several times during the past months as a result of the lack of heavy equipment.
Under the first phase of the ceasefire agreement in effect in Gaza since 10 October 2025, Israel was supposed to allow the entry of the necessary heavy equipment and machinery, but it did not do so, according to government and factional bodies in Gaza.
On the sidelines of the search operations, the child Muhammad Riyadh Ghaboun stands eagerly waiting for the recovery of the remains of several members of his family whom he lost eight months ago.
Ghaboun, a previously wounded person who was pulled from under the rubble of the house following the Israeli bombing, said, “I have a mixed feeling of eagerness and sadness with the start of the process of recovering the bodies of my family members who have been missing for eight months.”
The child added to Anatolia, “Since then, I have been in a state of anticipation and anxiety, and I hope to be able to see their bodies and bury them in their graves.” Painful memories
The impact of the absence of machinery is not limited to delaying the recovery of bodies, but rather doubles the suffering of the families of the missing who remain deprived of burying their loved ones, while rescue teams face difficulties and field hazards at destruction sites.
For his part, the elderly Yusuf Al-Zaharneh recalls the moments his house was bombed during the genocidal war, pointing out that it was sheltering approximately 45 displaced persons, most of whom were women and children.
Al-Zaharneh told Anatolia that the house, consisting of five floors, was bombed over the heads of its residents without prior warning, causing the death of some who were in it and injuring others.
He explained that three of his sons were martyred as a result of the bombing of the house, and the bodies of two of them were recovered in the form of body parts, while the third remained missing under the rubble.
He continued, “As a grieving father, my feeling at these moments is very difficult as I await the recovery of my son’s body from under the rubble, for all I seek is to find a part of his remains or his bones so that I can bury him and he can have a grave that I am able to visit.” Al-Zaharneh added, “The pain inside me is very intense, and I await relief from God.”
The volume of rubble resulting from the widespread destruction in the Gaza Strip is estimated at around 50 to 68 million metric tons, according to estimates by the United Nations and experts.
This massive amount of rubble covers large areas of residential and civilian zones, making the operations to search for victims and recover bodies a complex task that could take years, in light of the limited capabilities and equipment currently available.