Israel blocks Civil Defence teams from recovering bodies in northern Gaza

The Palestinian Civil Defence has said that Israeli forces continue to refuse entry to their teams into the “Golden Hall” area in the north-west of the Gaza Strip to recover the bodies of martyrs.

In a press statement received by the Palestinian Information Centre, the Civil Defence explained that it is still awaiting a response from the Israeli army to its second request—submitted through the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)—to allow access to the Al-Sudaniya area and retrieve the bodies being held there.

It noted that Israeli forces allowed access to the area last Wednesday, enabling the recovery of 15 martyrs, five days after carrying out a deadly attack that claimed the lives of dozens of young men waiting for aid.

However, the statement added, “️But until now, the occupation continues to deny our teams re-entry to the area to recover the remaining pure bodies.”

The civil defence also reported that Israeli authorities are rejecting further coordination requests to locate and rescue two missing women. One of them, from the Salem family, went missing at the entrance of the Beit Lahia housing project. The other, from the Attar family, was last seen near Abu Tammam School in Beit Lahia.

The civil defence strongly condemned Israel’s obstinacy and its disregard for human dignity, which international humanitarian law obliges all parties to uphold.

It called on international humanitarian and human rights organisations to pressure the Israeli authorities to allow the retrieval of the bodies, so that their families can bury them with dignity.