In Gaza, the search for the missing continues long after the bombs have stopped falling. Local teams and civil defense personnel are engaged in the delicate and arduous task of removing rubble and recovering remains from buildings destroyed by Israeli airstrikes during the Israel-Hamas war. Time and a severe shortage of heavy equipment have made the operation increasingly difficult, according to those on the ground.

In one Gaza City neighborhood, a piece of heavy machinery works alongside civil defense personnel digging through debris for victims believed to have been buried for over two years. Asaad Shreim, a local team member, reported that a building thought to contain 44 victims has so far yielded only 13 remains. The UN confirms that Israeli restrictions on heavy equipment entry and the risks of unexploded ordnance hinder the removal of millions of tonnes of rubble.

Ramez Nabhan, waiting to find his family's remains, described losing his wife and three children early in the war. “There was no equipment to extract bodies, no fuel or necessary resources,” he said. “We waited a long time and today, we face a new ordeal: recovering the remains and then burying them.” Local teams have recovered some of his family members, placing their remains in bags for identification and burial.

For thousands of families, the tragedy doesn't end with loss - it extends to the long wait to recover and bury their loved ones. As time passes, identifying remains becomes more complicated due to decomposition and limited forensic capabilities. The war has killed over 71,000 Palestinians and injured more than 171,000, according to a UN report from April 2026. Thousands remain missing, believed buried under rubble. The search continues.