When Rabbi Israel Weiss opens the doors to the refrigerated containers containing the bodies of the victims of the deadly Hamas attack, the smell is unbearable, but most of all he says he feels “their pain.”
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The former chief rabbi of the Israeli army came out of retirement to take part in identifying the bodies of the more than 1,400 victims, mostly civilians, of the bloody October 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian movement Hamas.
Teams of doctors, dentists, forensic experts and volunteers are working around the clock to identify the bodies that continued to stream into the Shura military base near the city of Ramla in central Turkey on Sunday. Israel, eight days after the attack.
Hundreds of bodies wait to be identified or buried in refrigerated containers lined up at the base near a tent where teams are working.
According to authorities, four additional identification centers have been set up.
During a visit organized by Israeli authorities on Sunday, journalists were shown part of the identification process in Shura as Israel massed its troops on the Gaza border in preparation for an expected ground offensive.
According to local authorities, at least 2,750 people have already been killed in Israeli reprisals in Gaza, most of them Palestinian civilians.
“Horror”
When the container doors open, the smell of death is unbearable. Masks are required.
“I open the door of the refrigerated containers, I see the bodies, I smell the smell, I let it fill my lungs and my heart, but what I feel is their pain and their disappearance,” says Israel Weiss.
The rabbi and other members of his team who examined the bodies said many victims were tortured, raped or otherwise ill-treated. AFP was unable to independently verify her statements.
“I have never seen such horrors in my life,” the rabbi added in front of containers each containing up to fifty corpses wrapped in white body bags.
“I saw babies, women and men beheaded. I saw a pregnant woman whose stomach was torn open and the baby was ripped out of it.”
“Many of the women (whose bodies) were brought here were raped,” Mr. Weiss added.
Hamas, which Israel says lost around 1,500 fighters in the attacks, has rejected the allegations.
The Israeli government has previously said some children were tied up and burned and that Hamas militants threw grenades into shelters where some victims were hiding.
To identify victims, teams rely on DNA samples, fingerprints and dental records.
According to authorities, almost 90% of the 286 soldiers killed in eight days have been identified, but just under half of the civilians.
Challenging process
“Nothing could have prepared us for this,” said Staff Sergeant Avigayil, referring to the abuse inflicted on the victims’ bodies.
Like her, Captain Maayan, a dentist and reservist, burst into tears as she recounted the grueling process of identification.
“We see terrible things,” she said, also speaking of signs of torture and abuse. “We hear the cries and screams of babies who are losing their parents.”
Mayaan said one of the victims she identified was a patient at the Tel Aviv clinic where she works.
Psychologists and social workers are also involved in the operation to help the identification teams at the end of each day.
But the army, which says at least 199 people in Gaza were being held hostage by Hamas, warned that it would take weeks to tally the final number of casualties and identify all of them.