Who by Fire
Israeli IDF reservists from the Yasar unit, consisting of combat unit veterans and military rabbis, have collaborated with Israeli Antique Authority archaeologists to conduct a forensic excavation of the charred bone fragments of the Nova party victims, who were murdered in the massacre on October 7th. Over 350 people were killed at the party, and approximately 40 were kidnapped.
It is perplexing that, even five weeks after the terrorist attack, some body parts of the October 7th victims were only just being discovered. In the immediate aftermath of the incident, hundreds of ZAKA and reserve soldiers evacuated approximately 1,200 bodies from the Gaza perimeter. Some victims were found shot in their beds, others blown up in shelters, and some charred in their homes or under the trees on the party grounds. At the time these photos were taken, 45 Israelis were still missing, 8 of them - from the Nova party.
The forensic findings on the field, of heavily burned bone fragments in an open field proved that the terrorists had used combustion catalysts to intensify the burning of the victim's bodies. While every piece of human tissue was diligently identified and buried, the intensity of the burning in some areas of the massacre necessitated the involvement of professionals from diverse fields. Remarkably, for the first time since its establishment, Israel, which has previously encountered extreme disaster scenes, had to turn to archaeologists to locate and identify victims whose bodies had been consumed in the flames, leaving only bone fragments behind.
Shot on assignment for 'De Volkskrant' with Rob Vreeken.
https://www.volkskrant.nl/kijkverder/v/2023/zoeken-in-de-as-nu-het-nog-kan~v967783
"A tooth" the reservist who crouches on the ground announces, emphasizes the importance of the finding. "Tooth”. He repeats each time he picks one up out of the ashes. The intensity of the fire is such that most of the chances of finding DNA in the finds are mainly from teeth, but in some cases, DNA cannot be extracted either.
Burned incisor teeth and finger bones.
Yossi, an anthropologist from the Israeli Antique Authority team, collects the ash from a spot from which bones were manually pulled - going for filtration in a duster by the IDF reservists in the back. In this joint workflow, only the archaeologists' team has the authority to decide whether the filtered content is human or not. David, the Yasar rabbi spectates the process. Body extraction is an incredibly delicate religious event in Judaism.
A ring of a victim was pulled from the ashes next to her bones. It was attached to her burned bones - and would be given to the family following the identification. In fact, in the setting in which successful DNA extraction is low due to the intense fire - the ring itself might become the main identification element of the victim’s remains.
Burned and broken skull fragments, fingers, toes, teeth and other bone fragments of a single victim, that hardly fill a sandwich bag.
In the vast burned party escape route along road 232, that length 300 meters - it’s impossible to filter all the ash, and is specific before rain arrives and washaway the scene. Most of the victim's bones were first located by metal detectors detecting the victim's cellphones or metal clothing buried in the deep ash. In this photo Assaf, an Israeli Antique Authority archaeologist takes a photo of a tooth that was located next to a metallic object - then he marks the scene with an orange ribbon used by the Israeli Antique Authority in archaeological sites.
Light rain began, and the burned bones were coloured turquoise due to corrosion of metal particles that were probably released by the explosives used by Hamas against the victims.
The ashed content was collected into buckets and then dusted on the side, out of the burned area site - a procedure imported from the archaeological professional world, in order not to “pollute” the scene. It was adapted for the setting of excavating victims who were alive only a few weeks ago - so that each victim’s excavation site will be dusted in a different location.
IDF Yasar officer in reserve tags each finding bags he receives from the archaeologists according to the unit protocol - that is called “Anita” protocol. The bags carry the date, location, site number and name of the responsible officer. The bags then are delivered carefully to the Shura base of the IDF Military Rabbinate in central Israel, where the identification process of the 7th October victims took place.
While the Nova party survivors received intensive mental health care in the weeks following the 7th October massacre, the soldiers that were exposed to horrific scenes, and is specific the Yasar unit who rescued hundreds of bodies - had not.
Assaf, an Israeli Antique Authority archaeologist gives a bag with a burned yet unbroken molar tooth of a Nova party victim murdered on the 7th October to IDF Yasar unit reservists, responsible for casualties detection composed of military rabbis and combat veterans
