By 𝔸bdulrazak Tomiwa

Six months after a mediated ceasefire agreement was signed between Israel and Hamas, thousands of Palestinian families remain unable to retrieve or bury their loved ones.

Approximately 10,000 people are still missing, believed to be entombed under more than 61 million tonnes of rubble generated by Israeli bombardment.

The ceasefire, intended to end the conflict that began in October 2023, has brought little relief to those living among ruins. Entire communities remain trapped beneath collapsed concrete, as the heavy machinery required for recovery operations has largely been blocked from entering the besieged Gaza Strip.

In the Bureij refugee camp, a father named Abu Mohammed lives beside the wreckage of his home where four of his children are still buried. Despite his desperate pleas for help, the massive weight of the concrete slabs makes manual recovery impossible without professional intervention and specialized equipment.

Abu Mohammed expressed the helplessness of many parents in the region, stating: **“I have been trying for three years to retrieve my children, but these are massive concrete slabs. There is no way I can do this, even with an excavator. This needs heavy equipment. How can I do this on my own?”

Local authorities report that the entry of equipment has been strictly limited to specific missions rather than general recovery. Mahmoud Basal, Gaza’s civil defence spokesperson, noted: “Nothing has entered Gaza except the limited equipment brought in for Egyptian committees and Red Crescent’s team to retrieve Israeli captives. Once those bodies were recovered, the file was closed.”

The lack of resources means that even large-scale tragedies remain unaddressed; in a single apartment block in Bureij, at least 50 bodies have remained untouched since the early days of the war. Families are forced to wait indefinitely as their homes serve as makeshift, unreachable graves.

Compounding the grief, the ceasefire has not stopped the violence entirely, with over 700 people killed and 2,000 wounded since it took effect. Israeli forces continue to occupy more than half of the Gaza Strip, and many residents remain displaced from areas where buildings have been completely levelled.

While the international community monitors the “ceasefire,” for the families of the 10,000 missing, the war’s impact is an ongoing daily reality. Without the entry of heavy machinery to clear the debris, thousands of Palestinians are denied the basic dignity of a proper burial for their children and relatives.