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Gaza Holds Mass Funerals for Victims Recovered from Rubble
🇬🇷 Greece /Conflict & Security

Gaza Holds Mass Funerals for Victims Recovered from Rubble

From Kathimerini · () Greek

Translated from Greek, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Mass funerals were held in Gaza for 112 victims killed in Israeli bombings in November 2023, whose bodies were recently recovered from rubble.
  • The victims had remained buried under debris for nearly a year after the initial attacks.
  • Authorities estimate over 8,000 bodies may still be buried under the rubble in Gaza, with recovery efforts hampered by a lack of equipment and materials.

Gaza held mass funerals for 112 victims whose bodies were recovered from rubble nearly a year after they were killed in Israeli bombings in November 2023. The bodies had remained buried under the debris in Gaza City since the initial attacks, which followed Hamas's October 7, 2023, assault on southern Israel.

Hundreds attended the large-scale funerals, described as some of the biggest organized in the Gaza Strip. Ahmed Abu Saraya, a relative of the victims, stated that the funerals would allow families to end their mourning. "This is the funeral of the Palestinian people," he told AFP, adding, "There are still many people under the rubble... Neither fought nor carried weapons."

This is the funeral of the Palestinian people.

— Ahmed Abu SarayaA relative of the victims described the significance of the mass funerals in Gaza.

Of the 112 bodies recovered in July, 44 belonged to children who were members of the same family, according to Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for civil defense in the Gaza Strip. Basal estimates that over 8,000 bodies may still be buried beneath the rubble in Gaza. Recovery teams worked for 17 days with equipment provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (ICRC).

There are still many people under the rubble... Neither fought nor carried weapons.

— Ahmed Abu SarayaA relative of the victims highlighted the ongoing presence of bodies under the rubble.

Mohamed al-Mughayir, operations director for a state-affiliated emergency response organization, described finding intact skeletons in some cases, with bones held together only by their clothing. Civil defense and organizations like the ICRC have long complained that Israel, which controls Gaza's entry points, does not permit sufficient equipment and materials needed for the recovery of victims' bodies.

Despite a ceasefire in effect since October 2025, airstrikes and artillery shelling continue to shake Gaza almost daily. According to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, at least 1,252 Palestinians have been killed since October 10, 2025. During the funerals, men gathered for memorial prayers. For identified victims, photographs were placed on their coffins. A member of the Husayna family, which was wiped out, expressed despair about finding any more missing victims, noting that some were "vaporized" or their "flesh and bones crushed by masses of concrete."

In some cases, we found intact skeletons, bones still held together only by their clothes.

— Mohamed al-MughayirThe operations director described the grim state of some recovered bodies.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Kathimerini in Greek. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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