Muscat – Oman’s Foreign Minister, H E Sayyid Badr al Busaidi, has called on the international community to acknowledge the plight of thousands of victims still buried under rubble in Gaza, urging the world to honour their memory.

In a statement on social media platform X, H E Sayyid Badr said, “Amid the talk of the future of Gaza, let us not forget the many thousands of innocents still lying beneath the rubble. We must honour them, including every woman and child that has lost their lives in vain at the hands of the brutal Israeli forces.”

Salama Maarouf, head of Gaza’s Government Media Office, estimated that over 12,000 bodies remain trapped under debris, citing a severe lack of equipment to retrieve them due to Israeli restrictions on the entry of heavy machinery into the besieged enclave.

“Israeli authorities have not allowed the entry of heavy machinery into the Gaza Strip,” Maarouf said at a press conference at Gaza City’s Baptist Hospital on Friday. Hamas has acknowledged that it cannot fulfil its earlier promise to return the bodies of Israeli captives killed during bombardments, he added.

H E Sayyid Badr discussed the ongoing crisis with Badr Abdel Aati, Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration, on Friday.