Searching ruins: Father in Gaza digs for family killed in Israeli strike

By Mohamed Majed

GAZA City, Palestine (AA) - On a mound of sand and shattered concrete that once formed the foundation of his six-story home in Gaza City, Mahmoud Hammad digs methodically through the debris, searching for the remains of his wife and children killed beneath the rubble.

Armed with little more than a small shovel and a metal sieve, the 45-year-old father filters sand by hand, hoping to find bone fragments that would allow him to lay his family to rest.

“In the absence of machinery, this is what we have,” he said, holding up the sieve.

- Home reduced to dust

Hammad’s house in the Sabra neighborhood was destroyed Dec. 6, 2023, during heavy Israeli bombardment. He said a powerful bomb weighing around 2,000 pounds (907 kilograms) struck the building while the family was inside.

He lost his wife, six children, his brother, his brother’s wife and their four children.

Hammad survived but sustained severe injuries, including multiple rib fractures and injuries to his shoulder and pelvis. After months of partial recovery, he returned to the site to begin searching for his family’s remains.

“I wanted to bury them properly,” he said.

With the help of neighbors, he managed to retrieve and bury his brother and his brother’s family. But the bodies of his wife and children remain under layers of hardened debris.

“I collect what I can, piece by piece,” he said.

- Missing under the rubble

Nearly 9,500 Palestinians are missing beneath destroyed buildings across the territory, according to official estimates in Gaza.

Officials said recovery efforts are severely hindered by the lack of heavy equipment needed to clear the debris. Despite a ceasefire that took effect in October, authorities said the entry of large-scale machinery remains restricted, limiting the ability of rescue teams to reach buried bodies.

Civil defense crews have repeatedly warned that the longer debris remains uncleared, the harder it becomes to recover remains.

- Private grief amid mass destruction

Hammad said his wife was pregnant and close to delivery when the strike occurred, as medical services across Gaza were collapsing under the strain of the war.

“She and our unborn child died together,” he said.

Since December, Gaza has been battered by repeated storms that further displaced families living in makeshift shelters after their homes were destroyed.

For Hammad, however, the focus remains on the ruins before him.

Each day, he returns to sift through dust and fragments of concrete, driven by what he describes as a simple duty.

“They deserve to be buried with dignity,” he said.

At least 591 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1,598 injured in Israeli attacks since a ceasefire deal took effect Oct. 10, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

​​​​​​​‏Israel’s war on Gaza, which began Oct. 8, 2023, and lasted two years, has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians and wounded over 171,000, most of them women and children, and destroyed about 90% of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure.

*Writing by Tarek Chouiref in Istanbul