Gaza : About 70 of those recovered were children, according to Palestinian
journalists. The dead also included women and members of several
families killed when Israeli strikes hit residential buildings in the
area.

Civil Defense crews spent days searching through the ruins to reach
the victims. 

At one site, the remains of 55 people were recovered from
a family home hit by an Israeli airstrike on November 19, 2023, while
more than 60 displaced Palestinians were sheltering there.

Hundreds of relatives and other mourners attended the funeral, with
bodies and remains placed in shrouds and draped in Palestinian flags.
Families gathered with candles, flowers and photographs before saying
their final goodbyes.

A young girl mourns beside a shrouded body draped in a Palestinian
flag, with a photograph and flowers placed on top.

The procession moved through Al-Zaytoun before the victims were buried
at the Martyrs’ Cemetery following funeral prayers, bringing a measure
of closure to families who had waited years to recover their
relatives.

Sunday’s ceremony was among the largest mass funerals in Palestinian
history. It followed a similar burial in Gaza City’s Sabra
neighbourhood in August, when 112 Palestinians recovered from beneath
the rubble were laid to rest.

Recovery teams are now searching 147 destroyed homes across Gaza City
and northern and central Gaza, where an estimated 1,072 bodies are
believed to remain buried. During an earlier phase, Civil Defense
crews recovered around 333 bodies and remains from 54 sites.

Palestinian authorities said the Gaza ceasefire, which took effect on
October 10, 2025, was expected to allow the entry of heavy machinery
and equipment needed to speed up recovery operations.

Civil Defense authorities believe more than 1,000 bodies may still lie
beneath the rubble at scores of destroyed homes across Gaza City and
other parts of the enclave.

Israel’s war on Gaza began following the Hamas-led attack on Israel on
October 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people, according to Israeli
authorities. Israel’s subsequent military offensive has killed more
than 73,651 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the territory’s Health
Ministry.