Gaza civil defence recovers bodies as Israeli control reaches 64%

Gaza's civil defence teams are recovering bodies from the rubble as Israeli control of the territory has expanded under the ceasefire. More than 1,400 Gazans have been killed since the ceasefire last October, including five on the day of the latest coverage. The ceasefire deal gave Israel control of just over half of the strip, with a plan for eventual withdrawal once Hamas disarms. Israeli control has since expanded to 64%, forcing more than two million Palestinians into an even smaller area.

With Israel still barring international journalists, footage of the recovery effort was gathered with a Gazan filmmaker. Gaza has been left as a mass grave with rubble instead of headstones. Civil defence workers who once handled house fires and car accidents now spend their days searching for human remains. Their former branches have been destroyed, and their headquarters is a temporary setup at the back of an education centre.

Ali Abbas, a 40-year-old civil defence worker who has served since 2008, starts early and cleans his shoes before another day that will leave them dirty. He shares a ride because so few cars are running. At a site in Zaytoun in Gaza City, the team searches the house of the Heji family, where an Israeli strike in November 2023 killed 20 people. Survivors' memories guide the search. After hours of shifting debris, the team finds a skull. Machines are switched off and the workers sift through dirt by hand, pulling out dozens of bones.

There are no DNA tests or forensic analysis on site. Clothes and a family member's knowledge are used to identify remains. One man believes the remains are those of his cousin, Fatih Heji, an 11-year-old killed with his mother and sister. The team also faces shortages of machinery, fuel and personnel. Requests for Israel to allow heavy equipment have largely gone unanswered, and work is limited to specific hours pre-agreed by humanitarian organisations and the IDF.

At another site, Haider al-Nadim waits to recover his four brothers and their families, killed when his house was struck on 30 October 2023. He was pulled alive from the rubble. The team warns that some remains may never be recovered because heavy munitions can leave nothing behind. A single bone is tagged. A skull is found without a body. Then the team runs out of time.

The next morning, a mass funeral is held in Gaza City for 110 bodies recovered by the civil defence. Survivors carry bags that weigh very little but hold unbearable meaning. The burial offers a measure of dignity, though not every family will get the chance to bury their dead. Israel wants to bulldoze the landscape created by its bombs, perhaps to begin reconstruction or to draw a line. Whatever is built there will be marked by what came before.