The Israeli military mobilized tanks, drones and equipment described by residents as “explosive robots” to recover the body of an Israeli policeman killed more than two years ago, turning a Gaza neighborhood into a “death zone” and exhuming some 200 Palestinian graves.
The operation focused on Ran Gwilym, an Israeli policeman whose remains were found on Monday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the operation a triumph of dedication. But just a few meters from where his body was recovered, the reality for Palestinians remains very different.
According to the National Committee for Missing Persons, over 10,000 Palestinians remain buried under the rubble of Gaza, without identity and with no chance of recovery. Their families live in uncertainty and pain, without closure and without justice.
Journalist Khamis al-Rifi, who reported from the area of the intervention, said the Israeli army created a deadly perimeter around the cemetery in the Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza, shooting at every movement. According to him, for two days, Israeli forces dug up the ground and exhumed about 200 graves, testing the bodies one by one until they found that of the Israeli policeman.
After the operation was completed, the Palestinian remains were left scattered and randomly covered by bulldozers, while Gwil's body was transported for a dignified burial in Israel.
The spokesman for the Committee for Missing Persons, Alaa al-Din al-Aklouk, described Gaza as "the largest cemetery in the world," noting that the international community has mobilized resources for Israeli hostages but has blocked the entry of heavy equipment that would help extract the bodies of Palestinian victims.
Meanwhile, the Israeli operation also caused new casualties. On Tuesday, four Palestinian civilians were killed by Israeli fire near the cemetery area, including a person who had gone to see the damage to the graves of relatives.
According to Palestinian observers and organizations, the operation has become a symbol of a brutal double standard: a reality where an Israeli body mobilizes an entire army, while thousands of Palestinians remain forgotten under the ruins of war.
