The Civil Defense Authority in the Gaza Strip announced this Sunday that since the ceasefire went into effect on October 10, its teams have recovered some 500 bodies from under the rubble.
In a statement, the agency affirmed that thousands of bodies remain buried under the structures destroyed after two years of Israeli aggression, but warned that it is impossible to recover them because Israel refuses to allow the entry of heavy machinery.
It also denounced that the lives of displaced people have not improved since the truce went into effect, and accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of limiting the entry of aid into Gaza, Prensa Latina reports.
Last month, Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal estimated that more than 10,000 people were buried under the millions of tons of rubble covering the coastal enclave.
He criticized the prevailing double standard in the world, pointing to the concern for Israeli bodies buried in Gaza while ignoring the Palestinians.
As part of the ceasefire, the Islamic Resistance Movement pledged to hand over the bodies of 28 Israelis in its custody, but to date has only returned half due to the difficult terrain and the impossibility of reaching them because of the amount of rubble.
Basal questioned the fact that some 10,000 Palestinians have been trapped under the rubble for two years, without the international community or humanitarian organizations taking any real steps to search for their remains.
The Palestinian Center for Missing Persons estimated that most were buried under the rubble or in areas of Israeli military concentration.
According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), more than 61 million tons of rubble are scattered across the Gaza Strip as a result of the war.
The Gaza Government Media Office estimated weeks ago that the territory is covered by between 65 and 70 million tons of rubble and debris.
[ SOURCE: AGENCIA CUBANA DE NOTICIAS ]
