Civil defense groups in the Gaza Strip estimate that more than ten thousand Palestinian bodies are buried under the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israel in a military offensive launched against the Islamist Hamas movement in the enclave.
“We estimate the number of missing people who are still under the rubble of hundreds of buildings destroyed since the beginning of the aggression at more than ten thousand,” the Civil Defense said, adding that “specialized teams were unable to find the bodies.” .
The Hamas-controlled Palestinian Civil Defense clarified that the number “is not included in the statistics of ‘martyrs’ published by the Gaza Ministry of Health.”
“Thus, the number of martyrs exceeds 44 thousand,” the organization said.
“We continue to fulfill our humanitarian duty in the face of ongoing aggression and serious shortages, especially in terms of equipment, vehicles and equipment necessary to search for missing houses and buildings under the rubble,” the Civil Defense emphasized, the headquarters said. Palestinian daily newspaper Filastin, affiliated with Hamas.
The same officials also claim that the groups are “searching” for missing people in northern Gaza with the help of enclave citizens and “volunteers” using “their own hands.”
“It was possible to discover several bodies of ‘martyrs’ that were completely decomposed,” the Gaza Strip Civil Defense said.
“Due to the lack of heavy equipment, the efforts (…) are insufficient and do not meet the minimum requirements to recover the bodies,” the same sources emphasize, adding that this mission could last “two to three years.”
Hamas-affiliated civilian authorities also warned that the accumulation of thousands of bodies under the buildings “has begun to cause the spread of disease and epidemics, especially as summer approaches and temperatures rise, which accelerates the decomposition process of the corpses.”
“We reiterate our call to all parties to allow the import of the heavy equipment needed by our teams to save the lives of those wounded in Israeli bombings against our people in the Gaza Strip and to return the bodies of the ‘martyrs’,” Civil Defense reiterated.
Hours earlier, Gaza’s health ministry put the death toll and 77,770 wounded from the Israeli offensive at more than 34,500.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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