For nearly three weeks, we have heard by-the-minute news about the retrieval of Israeli bodies in Gaza. International rescue teams have been sent into Gaza, not to help retrieve the more than 10,000 bodies (a conservative figure) of Palestinians – including babies, children, the elderly – but to retrieve the remains of last Israelis, whom, it is known, including by Israelis, are extremely difficult, if not impossible, to retrieve because they are trapped beneath rubble due to two years of non-stop Israeli bombardment. Meanwhile, the population of Gaza remains starved, collectively punished, until the last of the Israeli bodies is retrieved and confirmed. But while we see New York Times “breaking news” alerts on Israeli bodies, little attention has been paid to obvious signs of torture that Palestinians held by Israel endured before being returned to Gaza for burial, or to the sheer number of Palestinian bodies held by Israel.
I obtained pictures of some of the Palestinian bodies that have been returned – pictures that I wish I had not seen and now cannot unsee.
By Diana Buttu