Gaza’s Heartbreaking Dilemma: A Father’s Bicycle Journey with His Son’s Body
Watan-The transportation and burial of bodies represent one of the hardships besieging Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, amidst the escalating brutal war waged by the Israeli occupation forces since the seventh of October last year.
A tragic video has circulated, encapsulating this situation, featuring a Palestinian citizen transporting the body of his martyr son in a box on his bicycle.
Palestinians face difficulties in burying their martyrs, especially with the Israeli occupation forces demolishing and excavating numerous cemeteries in the Gaza Strip.
Cemetery Destruction
During the current war, the Israeli occupation army destroyed parts of the Sheikh Radwan Cemetery, which is over 100 years old and considered the largest cemetery in the sector. Prominent Palestinian figures like Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the founder of the Hamas movement, are buried within its walls.
Israeli forces also excavated the Al-Falouja Cemetery located north of the Gaza Strip during the Israeli war on Gaza.
The Israeli occupation army also destroyed the Eastern Cemetery overlooking Salah al-Din Street, east of Jabalia town. Dozens of displaced individuals provided testimonies of its invasion by Israeli military vehicles.
Israeli forces target cemeteries in various areas of the sector, whether through aerial or artillery bombardment or through the use of bulldozers.
The Israeli occupation authorities have also confiscated many bodies in the Al-Falouja Cemetery, a move interpreted as intervention in the search for captured soldiers in the sector.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Palestinian families in northern Gaza have been unable to bury their sons in cemeteries. Some of the martyrs’ bodies have been buried in schools, public roads, hospital yards, or public markets.
فلسطيني ينقل جثمان ابنه الشهيد في صندوق دراجته الهوائية لدفنه#الجزيرة_مباشر #غزة pic.twitter.com/GJYJlox125
— الجزيرة مباشر (@ajmubasher) December 31, 2023
Random Burials in Gaza
Ismail al-Thawabteh, the General Director of the Government Information Office, stated that the humanitarian situation has reached a post-catastrophic stage, especially regarding the citizens’ inability to bury their martyrs and deceased in designated cemeteries due to the continuous targeting by the occupation in Gaza.
Speaking to TRT Arabic, he commented on the issue of random burials, saying, “The citizens in Gaza have resorted to burying the martyrs in different areas, such as hospital yards, houses, schools, and shelters. This is extremely unfortunate and is caused by the criminal actions of the occupation army.”
He pointed out that preliminary and partial reports from counting committees indicate that more than 1700 martyrs have been buried in random locations. However, these statistics are expected to increase, as hundreds or even thousands of martyrs have been buried in random areas and have not been counted yet.
