MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Today, civil defense crews in Gaza began exhuming bodies from mass graves at a hospital to bury them in cemeteries nearby. It was an emotional moment for survivors burying their dead and for those still searching for loved ones and for closure. NPR's Anas Baba was there as bodies were being dug up. He shared his reporting with NPR's Aya Batrawy in Dubai. And a warning - this piece does include descriptions of bodies being exhumed.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Crying, non-English language spoken).
AYA BATRAWY, BYLINE: There's a ceasefire now in Gaza, but grief still prevails. The smell of death is overwhelming. Civil defense workers are exhuming bodies buried hastily on the grounds of Al-Shifa Hospital during the war.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Non-English language spoken).
BATRAWY: The unceremonious, unsanctified sound of body bags being unzipped is a chance at final farewells. Civil defense crews say there are 160 bodies buried in this dirt courtyard that was once covered in grass and flowers. This had been Gaza's biggest and most advanced hospital until Israeli raids and battles with Hamas destroyed it.
(SOUNDBITE OF SHOVEL DIGGING)
BATRAWY: There are men, women and children's bodies being dug up. Some were killed at the hospital in attacks. Others died as the hospital's ability to save lives collapsed. They were buried in the dirt here when graveyards couldn't be reached.
MOHAMMED ABU SELMIA: (Speaking Arabic).
BATRAWY: Dr. Mohammed Abu Selmia is Al-Shifa Hospital's general manager. He was detained for seven months by Israeli forces in a deadly raid on the hospital one year ago today. Israel said the hospital was being used by Hamas. Palestinians say medics and many civilians, including patients, died in the raid.
ABU SELMIA: (Speaking Arabic).
BATRAWY: Dr. Abu Selmia says there were even more bodies buried on the hospital's grounds, but Israeli forces took them. Israel has acknowledged taking corpses from Gaza during the war - it says to search for Israeli hostages among the dead.
(SOUNDBITE OF SHOVEL DIGGING)
BATRAWY: Al-Shifa Hospital, like all of Gaza, bears the scars of war. Its buildings are burnt and its wards mostly destroyed. The hospital wants to use the open courtyard now for temporary clinics to serve the hundreds of thousands of people who were able to return to Gaza City during the ceasefire. It will take several more days to exhume the bodies here, many of whom remain unidentified.
SOHA EL-SHERIF: (Crying, speaking Arabic).
BATRAWY: Soha el-Sherif came here looking for her son, Jihad el-Amri. She says he was killed by Israeli tank fire as troops advanced into Gaza City. Like countless others, he was fleeing through the area with his mother, wife and kids. She's still searching for his body to bury.
EL-SHERIF: (Crying, speaking Arabic).
BATRAWY: "He's not unknown. He's not unknown," she cries. "He was my only son. I raised him on my own," she says. Gaza's health ministry says there are thousands of missing people, in addition to the tens of thousands known to have been killed in the war. El-Sherif says he used to be afraid of cemeteries and bodies, but that was then.
EL-SHERIF: (Speaking Arabic).
BATRAWY: "Now," she says, "we open graves and see the dead." Aya Batrawy, NPR 瓜神app Dubai, with reporting by Anas Baba in Gaza.
(SOUNDBITE OF MAHALIA SONG, "LETTER TO UR EX") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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