In Gaza City, members of the Al-Drimli family are diligently sifting through the wreckage of their former home, searching for their neighbor’s remains. Armed with only basic tools like shovels, buckets, and a wheelbarrow, they toil under the scorching sun, the clatter of shovels against debris resonating around them.
The Al-Drimli family has already recovered the bodies of their loved ones from the site and is now focused on finding the missing neighbor who was residing with them when the building was struck in November 2023. The Gaza Health Ministry estimates that thousands of bodies remain buried under the rubble nearly three years after the conflict between Israel and Hamas began.
Due to the scarcity of excavators in Gaza, families like the Al-Drimlis resort to manual labor to uncover the remains, as heavy machinery is costly and hard to come by. Samir Sabra, who operates two excavators in the region, highlights the financial challenges of maintaining the equipment, emphasizing the high cost of running even a single excavator.
Despite the ceasefire agreement last October, the availability of heavy machinery for rubble clearance remains limited in Gaza. Mahmoud Basal, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Civil Defence, attributes this shortage to the deliberate targeting of machinery during the conflict. He emphasizes the urgent need for more equipment to expedite the recovery efforts and states that the current situation may prolong the process of retrieving bodies trapped under debris.
Humanitarian aid groups and the United Nations have raised concerns over Israeli restrictions on fuel, oil, and spare parts, which hinder maintenance and operation of crucial machinery in Gaza. Civil Defence has urged the international community to intervene and facilitate the entry of necessary equipment to assist in the recovery operations.
Amid these challenges, Uday Sabra, operating one of the few remaining excavators, persists in his search for remains, committed to providing closure to the families of the deceased. The demand for their services exceeds their capacity, underscoring the overwhelming task ahead in clearing the rubble and retrieving the bodies in Gaza City.