In Gaza City, members of the Al-Drimli family are tirelessly digging through the debris of their former home to locate their neighbor’s remains. Equipped with shovels, buckets, and a wheelbarrow, they work under the scorching sun, surrounded by the sounds of clanging shovels and buzzing saws.
The family has already recovered the bodies of their loved ones and is now searching for the neighbor who was with them during the airstrike that demolished the building in November 2023. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 bodies remain buried under the rubble nearly three years after the conflict between Israel and Hamas began.
Due to a severe shortage of excavators in Gaza, families like the Al-Drinlis rely on manual labor to sift through the debris for their deceased relatives. Ayman Al-Drimli expressed the challenges they face due to the high cost and limited availability of equipment.
Heavy equipment operators in Gaza, such as Samir Sabra and his son Uday, operate a few of the remaining excavators in the area. Samir highlighted the exorbitant cost of running the machinery, making it financially challenging for them to continue their operations.
Despite the cease-fire agreements, the lack of maintenance, equipment, and spare parts, coupled with border restrictions on essential supplies, hampers the efforts to clear rubble and recover remains. The Palestinian Civil Defence, responsible for search and rescue operations, struggles to keep up with the demand for their services due to the scarcity of functioning machinery.
Mahmoud Basal, the spokesperson for the Palestinian Civil Defence, emphasized the deliberate targeting of heavy machinery during the conflict, exacerbating the current equipment shortage. He stressed the urgent need for international support to expedite the recovery process and alleviate the suffering of families still waiting to find closure.
The ongoing challenges faced by Gaza underscore the pressing need for increased humanitarian aid and access to essential resources to facilitate the recovery and reconstruction efforts in the region.