He found his nephew's remains in his shoe as Gaza searches for bodies
A day after the start of the cease-fire in Gaza, the displaced return to Rafah. The border town is a shell of its former self, many of the buildings are in ruins and the remains of the victims are still under the rubble.
Instead of bodies, the white bags are filled with clothes, bones, and bits of hair that families can use to help identify them. Sometimes the bag is marked with the word “unknown.” Those souls will be buried without a name or loved ones to claim them.
Zaki Shakafa was searching through the rubble Monday for his nephew, Abdul Salam Al-Mugheyr. He recognized a shoe with dark blue triangles on the sides when he pulled up a photo of his 26-year-old nephew confirm that it belongs to his nephew.
“We lost him about five months ago,” he told CBC freelance videographer Mohamed El Saife. “And this is what confirmed that this martyr is part of our family.”
26-year-old Abdul Salam Al-Mugheyr disappeared five months ago in the border town of Rafah in southern Gaza. His uncle, Zaki Shakafa, was searching for him on Monday among the debris found in the destroyed buildings when he came across a shoe that appeared to be his nephew's.
Nearby, the imam of the mosque, Ibrahim Solaye, was asking civilians to come to the European Hospital to identify and bury the bodies.
“Those bodies have been in the streets and under the rubble for a long time,” he told El Saife. “(They've) reached the point of bones and decay.”
the truce which went into effect Sunday After more than 15 months of relentless Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, it began with the release of the first three hostages held by Hamas and 90 Palestinians freed from Israeli prisons.
An estimated 10,000 bodies are under the rubble
Solaye said he had received 50 bodies on Monday, half of which had been identified.
Many still remain under rubble in the Gaza Strip.
According to the region's Ministry of Health, more than 47,000 Palestinians were killed in the 15-month war. Due to the chaos of the war, determining the exact number of casualties is difficult and subject to investigation.
A peer-reviewed study that has been published The Lancet January 9 suggests that the official figures may be significantly underestimated. As of June 30, 2024, the Gaza Ministry of Health reported 37,877 deaths. The study estimated that the number was probably around 64,200 as of that date.
The Palestinian Civil Defense said it was searching for about 10,000 bodies believed to be buried under the rubble.
Haitham Al-Hams, a rescuer for the Palestinian Civil Defense, said the agency had received more than 100 calls Monday about bodies decomposing under the rubble.
“This is a daily mission for civil defence,” Al-Hams told CBC News on Monday.
The level of destruction is a “big shock”.
Palestinian Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal said on Monday that at least 2,840 bodies had been decomposed, leaving no traces.
Mohamed Gomaa, who was displaced and lost his brother and nephew in the war, said the level of destruction in Gaza was “a big shock”.
“The number of people in shock is countless because of what happened to their homes. it's devastation, total destruction,” Gomaa said.
“It's not like an earthquake or a flood, no, no, what happened is a war of extermination.”
Hopeful Palestinians seek to reclaim the coastal enclave, which was destroyed by the Israeli army after the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas.
As a result of that attack, 1,200 people were killed and about 250 hostages were taken to the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli data.
It could take 21 years to clean up the rubble
Reports estimate that billions of dollars will be needed to rebuild Gaza after the level of destruction caused by Israel's bombardment.
A UN damage assessment released this month found that clearing the more than 50 million tons of rubble left by Israel's bombing could take 21 years and cost up to US$1.2 billion.
Meanwhile, rebuilding Gaza's destroyed homes could take at least until 2040, but could drag on for decades, a UN report last year said.
The debris is also believed to be contaminated with asbestos, as some refugee camps during the war are known to have been built with the material.
A United Nations Development Program official said on Sunday that Gaza's development has been delayed for 69 years as a result of the conflict.
Although the ceasefire appeared to be largely in place on Monday, medics said eight people were killed by Israeli fire in Rafah, south of Gaza.
The Israeli military said it had “fired warning shots against suspects who approached deployed troops,” according to the ceasefire agreement.
On the second day of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, both sides celebrated the return of loved ones and hundreds of aid trucks arrived in Gaza, where most people are hungry and homeless.
