In the aftermath of the devastating terrorist attacks on communities near the Gaza Strip border on October 7, 2023, emergency response teams were immediately mobilized to attend to the calamitous situation. Among them was ZAKA, a well-known volunteer-based organization in Israel that specializes in disaster victim identification, search and rescue, and recovery of human remains. Yossi Landau, ZAKA's head of operations for the southern region of Israel, found himself at the epicenter of these grim efforts.
The Media Line's Felice Friedson sat down with Landau to discuss the intricate and emotionally taxing work he and his volunteer teams undertook to recover bodies following the mass attack, providing a sobering look at the stark realities faced by those on the front line of humanitarian response.
Yossi Landau is head of operations for the southern command of ZAKA. A little more than one week has gone by since Hamas invaded the communities that are near Gaza. [There has been] a lot of death [and] a lot of horrific pictures that the world has seen. What has happened in this last week?
What happened in the last week? So, [in] the last week there are 65 people in my team, together we took [in] over 670 bodies.
Six hundred and seventy bodies in one week—[that] was never my dream over the last 33 years [since] I joined, [since] I [became] a part of the ZAKA force. In 33 years, I saw everything. I can say that I was all over the world, if we’re talking about terror attacks, [I was there]. If we’re talking the 9/11 attack. If we talk about natural disasters.
Most of the 670 civilians were shot in the back for no reason, and most of them were youngsters. We’re talking about children, families together, or going in and seeing two piles of children [who] were shot with their hands tied behind their backs and burned to death. … It’s more than we can handle.
And, as I said, right now I have my whole group, because we are going back in tomorrow morning to finish our work, and we still have a lot of work.
But you have to take them together and see who was harmed.
We’re all people, we have a family, we go home to our family, and I am sure that these scenes are disturbing for everybody. I am talking even for people that don’t see the horror, but for people that see it, they came in, and they saw a pregnant woman lying on the floor with a gunshot wound in the back, and her stomach is butchered open. And the baby that is still not born is stabbed. And in a quick second just thinking, what happened first? Was the mother murdered first, or was the [unborn] baby?
To see something like that, and you have to come home to your wife and children, and we all have children. We all have families. It’s the worst that can be.
My heart goes out to you, and I mean that. My heart goes out to you. Yossi, this is very hard to tell, and I appreciate you sharing it. It’s not easy to ask, to be honest with you.
How do you tell the world that what you saw is different … and you started to … than anything you’ve ever seen?
How do you tell the world? I’m used to terror attacks, to bombs, to buses that were bombed, and you see [dead] people. But to come into a house, a very normal house, a beautiful [one], and to see the table was prepared for the meal. It was Saturday, it was a holiday.
When I came in over there, it was Tuesday in that house, and I remind myself, well, I didn’t eat that meal. That Saturday meal I did not eat with my wife and children. And I’m looking, that on one side there’s the parents on the floor with their hands tied [behind] their backs. And I can tell you, they were abused. And on the other side of that living room, that dining room, two children, small children, in the same position.
And they made sure, these butchers, these terrorists, made sure that the parents should see how they attack the children, and the children should see how they attack the parents. And while they [the terrorists] are sitting and eating a meal that was prepared for this family … sitting and eating that meal.
I don’t know how to explain it for the world, but if somebody doesn’t understand, and I was asked questions: “You know that in Gaza, also children are being killed?” Yeah, who is killing them? Who is killing them? Did Israel go in and invade that place and kill them? Or, is it because Hamas is launching missiles from their backyard, and they were warned to leave their place?
Hamas doesn’t give them the opportunity to leave their house. And they use them as live shields. So who is killing them?
There is no one that came into your … while [attending] a festival … and killing people and shooting them in the back, and made them go on the ground and just shoot them in the back. So, I don’t understand, I don’t understand. Is there anything more that I could explain?
I don’t know. If I have to explain it, then either I am in the wrong place, or the world is in the wrong place.
Yossi, are there still many bodies that are unaccounted for?
I can’t tell you how much, but there is, yes.
Are there some that will never be accounted for?
They will be counted as not knowing their position [location]. But we know they are missing. Yes, there is people that were burnt to a … they were left as ashes. And we’re talking about families. They were pushed into one room, a family of five with the dog. I saw it, and they were burnt alive to [their] death.
What do you tell the volunteers that are working with you? That is very difficult.
It is difficult. I am telling the volunteers that we are on a mission. It’s a holy mission. It’s in our religion. And, it’s a mission that we have to complete it. It’s our brothers and sisters.
I remember when I was trapped in the 9/11 attack in the Twin Towers and I almost died. I told the person that was my partner that I was trapped next to, I am asking you, I am begging you, if I can’t make it out and you do [make it out], please let them know where I am. I want to get buried as our religion [stipulates].
In what context were you there at the Twin Towers, Yossi?
As a rescuer. I came as a rescuer.
And where are you from in the United States?
New York. I am now 35 years in Israel. I live in Israel. I am 33 years in this organization, ZAKA. I don’t know. They say that I’m crazy, and all people are crazy who work [in this organization], but I see it as a national mission and a holy work.
And we do it for the same… There is no difference by gender, or by nothing. We have in our organization Christians, Arabs, Muslims. We all join together because it’s a worldwide mission.
Everybody, every family. There’s a family at the back of every victim. There’s a family that wants to have a place where to go to [to bury their dead], and they want to know that they have been treated as a human. And that’s what we do.
There must have been some bodies that belonged to the terrorists.
A lot.
And what happens in that situation?
With a heart breaking—very, very heart breaking—we deal with them the same way like the civilians. It’s the last mission, but we did it [for] hundreds and hundreds of terrorists. We pack them in the bags. Yes, it’s different bags, it’s not the same bags, in order to be recognized that they’re not civilians, and we give it over to the army. But unfortunately, I would say, we have to give them the last respect, too.
Your organization is a holy organization that picks up the bodies and the body parts so that they can be buried properly, and many people are not aware of what ZAKA does. What is the next step, because so many families are looking to identify through DNA, through other methodology, bone parts and even ashes so they can bury their loved ones?
I promise that everybody, that we will do everything, even if it’s going to take a month, two months, that we will be there to collect every piece. We are going to lose our jobs. People are losing their jobs. Our volunteers, they’re not going home. They don’t see sleep.
I have volunteers, including myself, we lost a couple of pounds of weight in the last week, because we know that we can’t eat. If we eat, [and] we go into any place, we’re going to throw up. So, we can’t eat. It’ best for us not to eat. So we drink, and even though we drink, we throw up. But I promise that we’re going to do the most, the most. If it’s not going to be 100%, it’s going to be 99%.
We are going to get everybody to have a grave and a place where their family should be able to come and say a blessing and give a blessing.
Unfortunately, Yossi, this is not the end. As we speak, there is a major operation going down that the Israelis are planning into Gaza so I feel that your work is going to be something lengthy and difficult.
Correct. We know that.
Do you have enough volunteers to help with what you’re doing?
I don’t want to think about it. I don’t want to think that I’ll have to have more volunteers, because then it’s a problem. Yes, I know, we have in Israel we have 1,500 volunteers. And we have also from the army, but yes, I hope we’re going to have all of the manpower that we need and we shouldn’t have to use them all.
And the main part of ours is the equipment. We just emptied out our equipment that in our view was supposed to be good for five years, six years. We emptied it out in five days. And that’s a mission now, unfortunately, to fill up our warehouses and to fill up our places that we should have our equipment that we need to keep up our work.
Yossi, I wish you a lot of strength. May God be with you. It’s a very difficult time, and I think that the world is looking at what’s happening here. They are feeling for the Israelis. They are feeling for the civilians in the Palestinian territories. It’s a very difficult time for all.
I can show you what we are doing right now downstairs [in the basement]. They are singing. Singing gives out a lot. And that’s what we’re doing now. After everybody, every volunteer, just gave out and said what he saw. Now we have a little bit of singing together, because that’s going to make them feel good, and give them some strength and courage for tomorrow morning to start the new week.
Yossi, do you go and make sure that everyone gets some extra help, whether it’s a psychologist they have to speak with? This is not an easy thing.
Correct. Yes, we do that. I have this, and I can say in this [past] week I took out three of my volunteers from the force, from inside, because I saw this [need]. I am a commander in this force a very long time, and I saw, I can see it, and we work it properly.
Thank you very much for sharing this very important message of what’s happened to those that were murdered, brutally, along the border of Gaza, in many communities. And, as I said, lots of strength and much thanks!
Thank you. I appreciate your courage and help, and it gives us some strength.
The Jerusalem Post and OneFamily are working together to help support the victims of the Hamas massacre and the soldiers of Israel who have been drafted to ensure that it never happens again.