Her Husband, Children Were Killed By Israel. Year Later, She Received Bodies

The bodies of around 100 Palestinians killed during the war were brought to Gaza City on Saturday after being recovered from beneath homes destroyed in Israeli attacks.

Draped in Palestinian flags, the bodies were laid out near the Imam al-Shafi'i Mosque in the southeastern Zeitoun neighbourhood. Relatives and friends gathered around them, some carrying flowers and photographs, others searching for any sign of someone they had been waiting to find.

The bodies were pulled from beneath destroyed houses by Gaza's Civil Defence teams.

The operation is part of an effort to recover Palestinians believed to still be buried under buildings that were reduced to rubble during the war.

Among those gathered was Maryam Hassan al-Balawi, who finally found the bodies of members of her family after waiting for a year.

Maryam said she had lost her husband, Mahmoud Balaawi, and their three children, Hala, Maya and Mohamed.

"My husband and children were martyred. I have only one daughter left. My husband was martyred and my kids died hungry", she told The Associated Press.

She said that her surviving daughter cries for her father everyday.

"Our entire life is gone. My husband was martyred and my children were martyred. I have no life left. My daughter cries every day, she wants her father", she added.

Maryam said that since the strike, she waited every day for her husband's body to be recovered to see him.

"My husband told me to cover and bury his body before he was martyred", she said.

Gaza's Civil Defence has only a small number of excavators and aging equipment available for the recovery operation, according to Anadolu Agency, a state-run news agency based in Turkey.

The entry of heavy machinery needed to clear collapsed buildings has been restricted, making the search even more difficult.

Despite those limitations, rescue workers have continued digging through the ruins in the hope of returning the dead to their families.

(With inputs from Associated Press)