'I recovered a dead boy's leg from a dog'

A Middle East Eye reporter has described desperate attempts to prevent dogs from eating the corpses of Palestinians killed and trapped under rubble in Gaza City.

For weeks, Israeli siege and heavy bombardment have cut off the western part of the city from access to ambulances, civil defence teams, basic needs and media coverage.

Thousands of people have been buried under rubble after the Israeli bombing of their apartment buildings. Others have been shot dead in their homes or on the streets.

Residents have not been able to recover many of them and civil defence workers are either not able to reach them or simply do not have the tools to pull them out.

Now dogs are digging them up and eating them, a reporter in western Gaza City has told MEE. His name is withheld for safety reasons.

"A group of dogs are roaming in our neighbourhood and we have to find a solution to push them away," the reporter said.

"Every day we see them looking through the rubble and extracting body parts.

"Yesterday I saw two of them fight over the dead boy's leg. I had to step in and take it away from them before burying it. It's heartbreaking."