ISRAELI OCCUPIED AND STARVED GAZA, 29 Oct. - For the third consecutive week, heavy machinery and excavation teams have been deployed across Gaza to recover the bodies of Israeli captives killed during the war, a process stipulated under the ceasefire agreement that came into effect on 10 October.

 

The deal, brokered by the US, Egypt and Qatar, promised a total ceasefire, the exchange of prisoners and missing persons, and the entry of humanitarian and logistical aid.

 

Among the first items to enter Gaza were bulldozers and excavators, not for rebuilding destroyed neighbourhoods or rescuing Palestinians still trapped beneath collapsed homes, but to recover the remains of Israeli captives in Gaza.

 

The agreement also established an internationally supervised operations room to coordinate on the issue of prisoners and the dead. In practice, this clause has served chiefly Israeli interests.

 

Egyptian engineering teams and some bulldozers now operate in the war-torn coastal enclave under the watch of Israeli and US security officials.

 

Ordinary Palestinians are barred from approaching the excavation sites, many of which are in zones that witnessed some of the heaviest bombardment.

 

For many in Gaza, these scenes are unbearably painful. After more than two years of relentless war that reduced entire neighbourhoods to dust, the contrast is glaring: the world's mobilisation to recover the remains of a few Israelis, while thousands of Palestinian bodies lie unrecovered and unacknowledged beneath the ruins of their homes.

 

 

 

 

Palestinians in Gaza watch as international attention and resources pour into one cause, while their own pleas to bring in rescue equipment have been ignored for months. The same crossings that opened swiftly to allow bulldozers for Israeli recovery missions remain closed to Palestinian civil defence crews still working with bare hands.

 

The disparity has reignited one haunting question across Gaza: Why are Israeli lives treated as sacred while Palestinian deaths are statistics?

 

Inside Gaza's devastated neighbourhoods, rescue efforts remain painfully primitive. Mahmoud Bassal, spokesperson for Gaza's Civil Defence, told The New Arab that more than 10,000 bodies are still trapped beneath the rubble.

 

"We are dealing with entire districts that have been erased from the map. Residential towers collapsed on their residents, and we have no machinery, no fuel, and not enough personnel to dig through the ruins," he said.

 

Without equipment, families take on the impossible task themselves. They use household tools, or even their hands, to search for loved ones.

 

Bassal explained that in many areas, survivors mark the debris with the family name and the number of missing people inside, hoping that one day someone will return to recover them.

 

"When a body is finally found," he said, "it is often unrecognisable. Families identify their relatives from a watch, a ring, or a familiar piece of clothing. Sometimes, by the place where they used to sleep."

 

Since the early months of Israel's war, Palestinian authorities and humanitarian groups have repeatedly asked Israel to allow the entry of heavy machinery to help clear the debris.

 

Israel's response has been consistent, rejection, citing "security concerns" and fears the equipment could be "diverted for military use."

 

"Bringing heavy equipment into Gaza would change everything," Bassal said. "This is not a luxury, it's a humanitarian necessity. Every day, families wait beside the rubble, hoping to recover the body of a child."

 

 

The human cost

 

 

Among those waiting is Youssef Abu Nasser, who sits daily amid the ruins of his house in al-Nuseirat refugee camp. Seven months ago, the building collapsed during an Israeli strike, killing his wife and three children.

 

"Every morning, I come here and start digging with my hands. Sometimes I stop when I get too tired or when the wall falls again. My family is still here, beneath this rubble," he told TNA.

 

Civil defence crews visited him once. "They told me I needed a large excavator, but they didn’t have one. They left, and I stayed," Abu Nasser said.

 

In Deir al-Balah, Sara Saleh has been watching the remains of her brother's home for nearly 18 months.

 

"When Ayman's house was bombed, 65 of my relatives were killed," she said. "We recovered only seven bodies. The rest are still under the ruins."

 

"They should have helped us find the bodies of our children, not send bulldozers to look for those who once bombed us," she added.

 

For these families, the world's selective compassion deepens their grief. Each day of inaction feels like a denial of their loved ones' humanity.

 

Gaza-based political analyst Ahed Ferwana from Gaza says the situation reflects "a repugnant double standard in dealing with humanitarian crises."

 

"When Israeli prisoners go missing, international delegations rush to mediate. Safe corridors open. The media mobilises. But when ten thousand Palestinians are missing under the rubble, the world remains silent, as if their lives have no value," he said.

 

He argues that global institutions have dehumanised Palestinians, treating them as "collective casualties" rather than individuals with names and stories.

 

"This is not just hypocrisy," he said, "it's structural racism embedded in the global political order."

 

 

 

From Ramallah, analyst Esmat Mansour offers a different lens. He told TNA that the ceasefire agreement clearly requires both sides to hand over all remains and missing people before moving to the second phase of talks, which would address Gaza's reconstruction, the lifting of the blockade, and a broader prisoner exchange.

 

"The current phase will not be considered complete until the remains are returned. This is a necessary step before progress can be made on any other issue," he said.

 

But Mansour believes Israel is deliberately stalling. "Since the ceasefire began, Israel has delayed handing over information about its missing, using the issue as a pretext to slow the entry of aid and block crossings. It wants to show its public that it still holds leverage over Hamas."

 

For him, Israel's approach is political, not humanitarian. "Netanyahu wants to appear strong," he said, "but in reality, this tactic only prolongs Gaza's suffering. He uses the remains as bargaining chips to delay reconstruction and maintain a state of uncertainty, neither war nor peace."

 

Mansour added that for Palestinians, handing over the Israeli remains is not a concession but a strategic necessity.

 

"Extracting and returning the bodies is not an act of goodwill toward Israel," he said. "It's a way to remove Netanyahu's last excuse for obstructing the agreement and to push forward toward a more stable future for Gaza."    - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/29 October 2025 - - -