Gaza holds mass funeral for extended family recovered from wartime rubble

Gaza City held a somber mass funeral for 112 people from the same extended family, the Hassayna and Abu Sharia clans, whose remains were recently recovered from wartime rubble. The victims died nearly three years ago, on Nov. 23, 2023, when an Israeli military strike hit their residential compound in the Sabra neighborhood during the second month of the war.

Recovery teams were able to access the site only in mid-July, spending two weeks exhuming and collecting the decomposed remains. The recovered bodies, each draped in a Palestinian flag, were laid out in the morning sun for a funeral described by Gaza's Civil Defense as the largest since the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Mourners, including women and children, gathered amidst the ruins of their homes. Mahmoud Basal, a spokesperson for Gaza's Civil Defense, questioned the ongoing loss of civilian life during the service. "O nation, why are children getting killed in Gaza? Why are women getting killed in Gaza?" he asked, his words displayed on a banner reading "Stop the genocide in Gaza."

Israel's military has stated that it targets militants and accuses Hamas of operating in civilian areas, putting civilians at risk. The military has not responded to requests for comment on this specific strike. Figures from Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry indicate that over 70,000 Palestinians have been killed in the nearly three years since the conflict began.

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O nation, why are children getting killed in Gaza? Why are women getting killed in Gaza? Why are massacres committed against innocents in Gaza?