Zaka: The Volunteers Giving Dignity to Israel’s Dead
Warning: This article contains details that some readers may find distressing
Behind the tall, barbed-wire gates of a military base in central Israel last week, away from the public eye, soldiers, police officers, and forensics experts were working diligently on a task that was almost impossible to imagine from the outside - the mass identification of the victims of Hamas’s murderous attack.
Working alongside them late into the night, under the harsh glare of floodlights, was another group, identifiable by their bright yellow vests. They were Zaka, a religious organisation which, since the attack, has been responsible for some of the toughest work taking place in Israel.
Zaka’s job is to collect every part of the remains of the dead, including their blood, so that they can be buried in accordance with Jewish religious law. The organisation is called on to deal with the most traumatic events, including natural disasters, suicides from buildings, and terrorism.
Its members are almost all ultra-orthodox Jews, and they are all volunteers.