Radio Cadena Agramonte emisiora de Camagüey
Ramallah, Jan 26. - Authorities in the Gaza Strip have recovered the bodies of more than 700 Palestinians buried under the rubble since the start of the truce in the territory on October 10 last year, an official source announced today.
The Gaza Ministry of Health specified that since that date, the bodies of 713 Palestinians have been extracted from under the thousands of tons of debris scattered across the coastal enclave.
Specifically, Ibrahim Abu Al-Reesh, director of field teams in the Gaza Governorate Civil Defense, highlighted that over the weekend, between 55 and 60 bodies were recovered.
The bodies were transferred to Al-Shifa Hospital for identification and handover to their families, the official explained, as cited by the Shehab news agency.
Al-Reesh detailed that those impossible to identify will be buried in the Cemetery of the Unknown Martyrs, located in the city of Deir al-Balah.
He noted that "the lack of machinery, equipment, and vehicles hinders the work of the Civil Defense" and accused Israel of preventing their entry.
He also warned of health risks arising from the decomposition of the bodies and the possibility of contagion spreading due to the shortage of protective equipment.
Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Civil Defense in Gaza, estimated that more than 10,000 people remain buried under the millions of tons of rubble covering the coastal enclave.
In October, a Palestinian NGO estimated that between eight and nine thousand Palestinians are missing in the Strip as a result of the Israeli aggression.
The Palestinian Center for Missing Persons considered that the majority were buried under the rubble or in areas of Israeli military concentration.
According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, over 61 million tons of rubble are scattered across the territory as a result of the war. (Text and photo: PL)
