Israeli restrictions hamper Gaza debris rescue efforts

Gaza, June 28 (EFE).- More than eight months after an Israeli airstrike reduced a residential building in Gaza City to rubble, rescuers have finally begun searching for eight victims still trapped beneath the debris using heavy machinery rented by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Recovering the dead in what has become an open-air cemetery is no simple task. Israel prohibits the entry of both reconstruction materials and heavy machinery into Gaza under an extensive list of restricted goods that humanitarian organizations describe as arbitrary.

Even if COGAT, the Israeli military agency responsible for coordinating civilian affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories, approves the entry of equipment such as excavators, aid organizations must specify in advance how and by whom it will be used, effectively preventing Gaza’s Civil Defense, which operates under the Hamas-run administration, from using it.

Basal said the Civil Defense lacks excavators, bulldozers, and other heavy equipment.

«Everything was destroyed at the beginning of the war,» he said, adding that, if allowed access to machinery already offered by international organizations, rescue teams could recover many of the remaining victims within three months.

«But if we continue like this, we’re talking about years,» he said.

For now, the International Committee of the Red Cross has authorized the Civil Defense to use, for up to 2,000 hours, a rented wheel loader and excavator dedicated to search and recovery operations.

However, Basal said the excavator has already broken down. An engineer determined it requires oil, another commodity in short supply because of Israeli restrictions on items deemed to have potential «dual use» for civilian or military purposes by groups such as Hamas.

«There is no oil available. Fuel is needed, and fuel is scarce. Maintenance is required, and there are no spare parts,» Basal said, listing the obstacles facing rescue teams.

Twelve-year-old Mohamed Ghaboun watched the recovery operation from a short distance away.

He is one of the few survivors of the Oct. 9 airstrike, which killed 16 members of his family, according to Al Jazeera.

«There were 25 of us. We woke up like any other day during the war, and suddenly I found myself trapped under the rubble and dust,» Ghaboun, who was rescued the following day,  told EFE.

His face and hands still bear tiny black specks resembling moles, scars left by shrapnel. EFE

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