Footage from inside Gaza shows mass graves as thousands remain unidentified

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Play Mute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently playing live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen Each nameless body is buried with a unique code, in the hope that they might be identified in the future, as ITV News Thousands of Palestinians killed in the war in Gaza remain under the rubble or unidentified in mass graves, despite the fragile ceasefire with Israel. Across the entire territory, there are still only two excavators that can be used to recover the dead, according to the Red Cross. It means that more than two and a half years into the war, many bodies have decomposed beyond recognition, leaving those missing loved ones still desperately searching for answers. But with no DNA testing equipment in Gaza, its ten forensic medicine specialists have little to go on. Instead, the authorities have had to set up mass graves on the few bits of spare land available. With breeze blocks instead of headstones and numbers where names should be, they look nothing like cemeteries. Top Israeli diplomat in UK summoned over ‘inflammatory’ video of detainees Israel says it killed Hamas's military leader and architect of October 7 attack But each nameless body is buried with a unique code, in the hope that they might be identified in the future. About 8,000 bodies are believed to still be buried under debris throughout Gaza, according to Gaza's health ministry. It estimates that more than 73, 000 Palestinians were killed during the war. In the chaos of Gaza, which lies largely in ruins after years of Israeli bombardment, it is a remarkable effort to bring some kind of order. But it offers little comfort to the families of the missing, with the Palestine Reporting Lab estimating that there are still more than 14,000 people unaccounted for. Some have disappeared into Israel’s detention centres, more remain under the rubble, but the fate of many remains unknown. Among them are two of Um Yousef’s sons. Her eldest, Yousef, was killed in an Israeli airstrike, but she says his younger brothers, Firas and Jihad, just disappeared. Um Yousef's eldest son, Yousef (right) was killed in an Israeli airstrike, but she says his younger brothers, Firas and Jihad, disappeared. Credit: ITV News Um Yousef insists her sons had no connection to any armed group - Jihad was only 16 and looks even younger in the photo she has on her phone. Israel won’t let international reporters into Gaza, but Um Yousef told our local camera crew she just wants answers. “To this day, I keep searching for his body among the dead,” she said. “I tell myself I would rather find him dead than continue not knowing his fate." But there are too many families left in limbo and not enough help. Iyad Abu Jred leads the Civil Defence team in Gaza, tasked with sifting through the seemingly endless rubble. He says he gets more than ten calls a day from bereaved families begging for his help. But the job is impossible. Iyad Abu Jred leads the Civil Defence team in Gaza. Credit: ITV News “My civil defence team doesn’t have a single excavator,” he said. “We depend on the Red Cross to give us a few hours with their excavator so that we can recover bodies." The Israeli authorities told ITV News: “The State of Israel allows and facilitates the entry of medical equipment in cooperation with aid organisations and the international community…” “We further clarify that when it comes to equipment defined as dual-use items, Israel exercises extra caution and offers international organisations alternative solutions that enable a humanitarian response while preventing the Hamas terrorist organisation from cynically exploiting the aid for its military buildup." But the shortage of vital equipment leaves families denied both answers about the fate of their loved ones and the right to say goodbye. It is agony for those left behind. Subscribe free to our weekly newsletter for exclusive and original coverage from ITV News. Direct to your inbox every Friday morning. Lina lost 28 members of her family when an Israeli airstrike hit this building - more than two years later, they remain under the rubble. Lina, who’d just graduated, was the only survivor. She explains that her former home is too close to the area of Gaza occupied by the Israelis for rescue crews to come near. “Many people have told me that my family’s bodies have already decomposed, that there is nothing left to find,” she said. “But I am determined to recover their remains." Lina regularly visits what's left of her home, weeping over videos on her phone of happier times, when she was surrounded by the laughter of her loved ones. The rubble-strewn ruins are dangerous, but it is the only grave she has for them. In what is left of Gaza, resting in peace is a luxury not even the dead are afforded. Reporting History sees journalists join News At Ten anchor Tom Bradby to revisit their remarkable on-the-day reports of the defining events of the modern age. Listen to the episodes below...