GAZA CITY — Palestinians gathered in Gaza City on Aug. 4 for the funeral of 112 people whose remains were retrieved from the rubble of homes destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in November 2023.
The victims were from the extended families of Abu Sharia and al-Hassayna. The strike hit several residential buildings in the Sabra neighbourhood, and rescuers recovered the remains during an almost two-week operation.
Gaza’s Civil Defence said the recovered remains included 40 children, 38 women and seven persons with disabilities. The officials said 157 additional bodies believed to be linked to the same site were still under the rubble.
Hundreds of mourners attended the funeral. Relatives and others took the bodies, lined up in rows and covered with Palestinian flags, to a cemetery for burial.
The November 2023 strike took place in the early weeks of the war that erupted after Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Reuters reports that the strike killed about 308 members of the extended family. Many of the bodies were retrieved and buried soon after, while others were buried under the collapsed buildings for nearly three years.
The recovery operation was done by Gaza’s Civil Defence with limited equipment. Where possible, heavy machinery was used, and then hand-through reinforced concrete and other debris. The operation, which took about two weeks, involved some 136 hours of digging, civil defence officials said.
An ICRC spokesperson quoted in the original report said the International Committee of the Red Cross had helped the recovery effort with body bags, training, protective equipment and access to excavators. The organisation also highlighted the difficulties families face in identifying relatives whose bodies lie buried under collapsed buildings.
Relatives said the recovery brought some relief because they could finally bury family members whose fate had been uncertain.
Yousef Abu Sharia is the sole survivor of his family, he said, according to the account. He said he lost his parents, an uncle and cousins in the strike.
Other relatives said they found personal belongings in the rubble, including children’s clothes, a school backpack and a shoe.
The search and recovery effort is indicative of a broader issue in Gaza, where thousands of people are still missing and some are thought to be trapped under buildings destroyed during the war. The Civil Defence in Gaza said the slow and difficult work was due to limited access to heavy equipment.
Include, if available, the Israeli military’s account of the particular November 2023 strike, including what it said was targeted and the circumstances of the attack. The original report said the Israel Defence Forces were asked for comment but had not responded at the time.
Please update the most recent available Gaza Health Ministry and United Nations figures for the latest Gaza-wide death toll prior to publication.
