In Gaza… the “living” pay the price for burying the “dead”

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Ibrahim Abu Sharkh, 29, was not searching through the rubble for life, but for a final act of dignity for those who had been stripped of their chance to survive.

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With his bare hands, he removed stones in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in northern Gaza City—not to rescue anyone, but to retrieve the bodies of martyrs buried beneath the ruins of homes once believed to be safe.

It was not a choice. Bodies were decomposing under the debris, the stench filled the air, and there were no tools, no gloves, no masks—only human hands struggling against the rubble, and hearts fearing that the dead would be left without burial.

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Weeks after those grueling missions, Ibrahim’s body began to collapse. Severe headaches, constant exhaustion, and recurring high fevers set in. At first, he thought it was a passing illness, but medical tests revealed a rare bacterial infection in his stomach—one for which no treatment is available in the besieged Gaza Strip.

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“I was told by doctors that my contact with decomposing bodies was the cause,” Ibrahim says. “We were retrieving the bodies of our relatives and neighbors because there was no one else who could do it.”

Ibrahim’s story is not an exception. Qusay Sarsour, a member of Gaza’s Civil Defense who participated in recovering bodies from mass graves and streets, developed kidney disease. He says his doctor told him the illness was caused by inhaling gases emitted from decomposing corpses.

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“We worked without any protective equipment,” Qusay says. “No masks, no protective clothing—just a humanitarian duty under impossible conditions.”

Mahmoud Bassal, spokesperson for Gaza’s Civil Defense, confirms that crews operate with minimal resources and handle bodies directly without safety equipment, leading to numerous health complications among workers, including fever, fatigue, and headaches.

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Meanwhile, Ayman Abu Rahma, Director of Preventive Medicine in Gaza, warns that improper handling of decomposing bodies could lead to serious public health disasters. He stresses that the absence of protective and sterilization equipment—due to the continued ban on their entry into Gaza—has significantly heightened the risk.

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As the number of bodies still trapped beneath the rubble is estimated at around 10,000, and heavy machinery remains barred from entry, bare hands continue their silent work: clearing debris, retrieving the dead, and burying them with dignity—while the living pay the price of this humanitarian duty with their health and their bodies.

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