Civil Defense Agency Finds 200 Bodies under Rubble in Gaza

Mahmoud Basal, the head of the Palestine Civil Defense Agency, announced this on Wednesday, adding that the bodies of about 10,000 Palestinians buried under rubble are yet to be found and buried.

According to Basal, at least 2,900 people have been completely melted and there are no traces left.

Many of these people died under rubble due to the inability of rescue teams to reach them in time, he added.

“Rescue teams received daily distress calls from injured citizens trapped under the rubble.”

Rescue teams could not respond to the distress calls because the Israeli regime targeted ambulances and their crew, he continued.

According to Basal, extraction operations have been challenging due to the lack of earth-moving and heavy machinery, as Israel has destroyed several of their vehicles and killed at least 100 of their staff.

Basal said the agency hoped to recover the dead within 100 days, but the process was likely to be delayed given the shortage of bulldozers and other essential equipment.

According to a UN damage assessment released recently, the clearing of more than 50 million tons of rubble could take 21 years and cost up to $1.2 billion.

Data from the United Nations Satellite Center (UNOSAT) revealed that two-thirds of Gaza's pre-war structures, over 170,000 buildings, have been damaged or destroyed, representing about 69% of all structures in the territory.