Hundreds of Gazan families are desperately clawing by hand through the wreckage caused by Israeli missile strikes, block after devastated block, AP News reports in an article today: “Thousands of Bodies Lie Buried in Rubble in Gaza. Families Dig to Retrieve Them Often by Hand.”
The Palestinian health authorities report that more than 11,400 Palestinians have been killed, two-thirds of them women and minors. But the UN humanitarian affairs office estimates that another 2,700 or so people, including 1,500 children, are missing and are believed buried in the ruins.
Gaza’s main search-and-rescue team, the Palestinian Civil Defense department, reports that half its vehicles have been either destroyed by bombing or are out of fuel. Bulldozers are in short supply. Further, over two dozen of its workers have been killed and more than 100 injured since the war began.