With large numbers of bodies, residents say Palestinians in Gaza are burying the unidentified dead in mass graves with a number instead of a name.
Some families now wear bracelets in the hope of identifying their members if they are killed.
The Al-Dabba family tried to reduce the risk of being bombed during the most violent Israeli attack ever on the Strip.
Israel launched air strikes after Hamas militants attacked Israeli towns on October 7, killing 1,400 people and taking hostages.
Ali Al-Dabbah (40 years old) said that he saw bodies torn apart by the bombing and could not be identified.
He stated that he decided to divide his family to prevent the death of all its members in one blow, and that his wife, Lina (42 years old), kept two of their sons and two daughters in Gaza City in the north, and he and 3 others moved to Khan Yunis in the south.
He added, “I divided my family into two parts: half in Gaza and half in Han.”
He added: “I told my wife, ‘You are my soul, and you have two sons and two daughters, and the rest will remain here. If we die, you will remain here.'”
Al-Daba said he was preparing for the worst. He bought blue thread bracelets for his family members to wear around their wrists.
He said: “If, God forbid, you cut off their flesh, I will know them from the signs calmly, and I will bury them with respect.”
Other Palestinian families buy or make bracelets for their children or write their names on their arms.
Mass burial
Local Muslim clerics analyzed the mass burial. Paramedics keep photos and blood samples from dead bodies and give them numbers before burial.
Leaving the northern Gaza Strip
The Israeli army asked residents to leave the northern Gaza Strip and head south because it was safer, but air strikes targeted all parts of the Hamas-ruled Strip, which is one of the most densely populated places in the world. The Israeli army intensified its bombardment of southern Gaza overnight after one of the bloodiest days for Palestinians since the conflict broke out on October 7. World leaders called for a halt to the fighting to allow aid to enter the besieged enclave, which is running out of water, food, medicine and fuel. The Gaza Ministry of Health said on Wednesday that 756 Palestinians, including 344 children, were killed during the past 24 hours. It reported that at least 6,546 Palestinians, including 2,704 children, had been killed in Israeli bombing since October 7.
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2023-10-25 17:13:30
