Deir el-Balah – Dozens of bodies, wrapped in makeshift white fabrics that double as a shroud, lie together in a newly dug mass grave.
These are unidentified Palestinians who were killed in Israeli attacks, their bodies either charred beyond recognition or torn apart, to the point where funeral officials are sometimes not completely sure whether they have recovered the whole person .
But the team at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital is doing its best to provide the remains with proper Islamic burial rituals, hoping that their efforts will allow the deceased victims to rest.
Yasser Abu Ammar, who oversees the ritual washing of the dead at the hospital, told Tel Aviv Tribune: “About 80% of the bodies we receive are torn apart. We bury the torn limbs and some bodies have their organs lacerated and exposed.
“We have never seen anything like this, like these puzzling injuries inflicted on these mutilated body parts.”
Abu Ammar added that he supervised the burial of body parts belonging to a six-member family in a single shroud.
“All of them were barely one complete body,” he said.
Mohammed al-Hajj, a hospital spokesman, said about 150 unknown bodies had been buried so far, documented by a committee of police and health officials.
The bodies are numbered and photographed for memory.
“We also include information about the Israeli bombings that hit them, the date and location of the attack and the timing,” al-Hajj said. “We also record the names of identified injured and deceased persons who arrived at the hospital at the same time. »
“It is very difficult to identify these bodies,” Abu Ammar said. “Family members resort to examining body parts for a scar, a mole or even the remains of burned clothing to help them identify their loved ones, but most do not fail.”
In all his years of washing and burying bodies, he said, the first time he encountered unknown bodies was during the current Israeli offensive on Gaza.
“When I’m at home, my brain plays the tape of everything I saw that day…in detail. I can’t stop it. I had the most terrible nightmares about these bodies.
“It’s the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced.”
The photographs are useful if relatives come to the hospital to inquire about their loved ones, but Abu Ammar says that in most cases, victims’ skulls are broken and their faces burned beyond recognition.
“These bodies were human beings… they had dignity,” he said. “Seeing their bodies reduced to burnt remains or pieces is unbearable. »