00:00Obviously, one of the features, one of the key points of the ceasefire deal was that the bodies of deceased hostages would be handed back to Israel.
00:09That obviously hasn't happened as quickly as people had hoped.
00:12I'm just wondering what your staff on the ground are telling you about the obvious challenges of locating those bodies in amongst what must be an enormous amount of rubble and confusion.
00:26Have you heard anything about that?
00:27Not specifically about the bodies, Tom, but speaking to colleagues here in Geneva and in the region, we hear exactly that, that the challenge is just to be able to move and organize logistics to deliver supplies for desperate people, but also to recover the bodies of the deceased, be them hostages or just civilians who got bombarded and are still stuck under the rubble.
00:55And we estimate that there are many thousands, including children.
00:58When I was in Gaza, I was absolutely shocked with the level of destruction that you see.
01:03I've been to other humanitarian crises before in my career with UNICEF, but what I saw in Gaza was indeed as if, I don't know, an atomic bomb was dropped on the place and very little was left but rubble and dust and lack of access to places that before you would have very open streets and avenues to move trucks and buses and cars.
01:27I can't imagine the challenge to try and find bodies of people under so much destruction after two years of not being able to work on any of that.
01:39So, again, we heard from a UN colleague last week here in Geneva that the amount of rubble in Gaza now amounts to 55 million tons, which would be enough to fill the entire central park with rubble and start building a little wall around it.
01:57So, you can't imagine the volume of destroyed building and infrastructure that needs to be removed.
02:03And in that process, indeed, bodies will be found.
02:06In terms of the hostages, I mean, I have no idea where they were and UNICEF is not really involved with that.
02:11But I know the International Committee of the Red Cross is very capable in doing this kind of task and that's where their mandate is.
02:21And surely they will find a way of isolating the areas where the potential hostages or the bodies of the hostages are still buried and they will be recovered and delivered to their families as they should.
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