Amid Gaza’s ruins, families fight for right to recover their dead

A heavy silence hangs over Gaza, a silence larger than the piles of rubble and one that feels as if the world has been cut off from itself. It spreads through the devastated neighborhoods like a cloud of dense ash, carrying the names of people who once lived, the dreams that never reached completion, and the faces now buried beneath concrete.

Families are no longer searching for a miracle that might restore a heartbeat. They are searching for a final human right, the right to say goodbye, the right to carry a loved one on their shoulders rather than leave them beneath the ruins.

People stand not only before collapsed buildings but before a vast and painful absence. They call out, whisper, and cry into spaces that no longer respond, holding onto a thin thread of hope simply to keep themselves from breaking. They search for a body, which is the last piece of dignity they can recover.

Women in Gaza dig through the earth with their hands, their nails, and their hearts. They are not searching for survivors, but for the right to bury those they lost.

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Every stone removed from the rubble reveals new silence, new memories, and new grief. Those still missing are not numbers in reports, but faces remembered in the homes they once filled. No one waits for their return. Everyone waits for the moment their bodies can be brought out and carried with honor.

Time passes like blades across the hearts of families who continue to search for their loved ones. Thousands of bodies remain trapped under the rubble because heavy machinery is unavailable and because the 'Israeli' forces have blocked equipment from entering, while positioning themselves behind the so-called yellow line inside Gaza.

Palestinian estimates indicate that about ten thousand bodies remain missing beneath the debris. These numbers do not simply represent statistics. They reflect a level of loss that has not yet been fully revealed.

Among these thousands are individual stories, such as that of Hind Mohammed, who lost her sister, and 14-year-old Yamen Quneita, who lost his mother during the 'Israeli' war on Gaza.

“We still hope she is alive”

Hind speaks through overwhelming pain. “We still have hope that my sister is alive under the rubble, even though we know she has been killed. Hope is the only thing that helps us survive.”

She describes the agony of the ceasefire announcement. “The moment they announced the end of the war, it felt like another death. My sister wished for the war to stop. Now we greet the end of the war while searching for her beneath the rubble.”

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Holding back tears, she adds, “I never imagined my sister would not even have a grave to visit. Even in farewell we have no rights. It is unbearable.”

“Waiting above the rubble”

The experience is no different for Yamen Quneita, who lost his mother and younger brother. He waits every day as if they might return.

“I cannot accept that my mother and little brother were killed. I feel them with me, and I wish I had gone with them,” he says with a trembling voice.

“Every day I search for anything that might lead me to their bodies. There is no equipment. I call on the world to let the machines in so we can recover my mother, my brother, and all those trapped under the rubble.”

He adds, “I sleep on the ruins of our home. I cannot leave my mother. I miss her. I wish she could return for one minute so I could hug her. Our photos are all I have, but the pain is too great.”

The suffering continues. What lies beneath the rubble goes far beyond the numbers announced in the media. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the death toll in Gaza has reached 70,112 people, most of them women and children, since the start of the 'Israeli' assault on October 7, 2023.