Gaza concluded its search efforts on Thursday at the site of a building collapse that had been damaged by bombing the day before. In this incident, 21 people lost their lives and 45 were rescued from the rubble.
Humanitarian Situation in Gaza
More than a year has passed since the ceasefire between the parties in Gaza, but the reconstruction of this devastated land has yet to begin. Most buildings have either been completely destroyed by Israeli airstrikes or demolished by Israeli forces, and nearly all remaining buildings have been damaged.
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A population of over 2 million in Gaza lives in one-third of this enclosed territory, primarily residing in temporary tents or overcrowded rooms in damaged buildings. On Thursday, bulldozers were working at the site of the incident to clear debris and prepare the ground for setting up tents where survivors from among the more than 110 people who lived in the building could be accommodated.
Heartbreaking Victim Statistics
Naderi Al-Ajla, one of the survivors of the incident, said: "We are in shock from what we saw. Imagine seeing your family members under the rubble - some of them dismembered and others deceased." He added that his family had moved into this damaged building due to the lack of finding another shelter.
Mahmoud Basel, spokesperson for the Palestinian Civil Defense Services in Gaza, announced that eight children were among the deceased and about half of the injured were also children. He emphasized: "We do not have the necessary equipment. However, the rescue teams did a brave job and rescued 45 people from under the rubble and transferred them to hospitals."
Palestinian officials and the United Nations have cited Israel's restrictions on Gaza as the reason for the shortage of heavy machinery for clearing debris and rebuilding homes. Palestinians have reported that over 73,000 people have died in the Israeli attacks on Gaza. The ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians, brokered by the United States last year, called for the reconstruction of the land, but little progress has been made in this regard.
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