Thousands of bodies remain buried beneath Gaza’s rubble, and recovering them has become an urgent and monumental challenge, according to humanitarian officials. Entire neighbourhoods have been flattened by months of bombardment, leaving families trapped under debris and hospitals struggling to care for the injured. The scale of destruction is so vast that no single organisation can manage the search and recovery alone.

Efforts to retrieve victims are hindered by restrictions on heavy machinery and essential equipment, leaving many bodies at risk of being lost permanently. The priority, experts stress, is dignity and humanity: the recovery of the dead must remain a purely humanitarian mission, separate from political agendas. At the same time, hospitals face acute shortages of fuel, medicine, and medical equipment, while children wait to return to schools shattered by war.

To meet the urgent needs, thousands of truckloads of aid, including food, medical supplies, and educational materials, are required each week. Emergency plans aim to restart local bakeries to provide daily sustenance for residents. Without immediate international coordination and access for heavy machinery, thousands more could remain trapped under the ruins, leaving Gaza’s devastation as a stark testament to a failure to act in time.