Gazans hold mass funeral for 112 victims recovered from rubble after Israeli strikes

Hundreds gathered in Gaza City for a mass funeral, laying Palestinian flags over the remains of 112 individuals recovered from rubble. These victims were killed in Israeli airstrikes in late 2023, according to Gaza's civil defense. The ceremony provided a measure of closure for relatives mourning lost family members, including children, women, and the elderly.

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We came to mourn our martyrs, children, women and the elderly. This is a funeral for the Palestinian people, because they are victims. People are under the rubble, and they did not fight or bear weapons.

Ahmed Abu Sharia, a relative of those being buried, described the funeral as being for the Palestinian people, emphasizing that the victims were not combatants. The recovery operation, which took 17 days, unearthed 44 children's bodies, all belonging to the same extended family. Civil defense spokesman Mahmoud Bassal noted that crews often resorted to digging through concrete and steel with their bare hands to recover the remains.

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Our crews worked continuously for 17 days in an effort to recover these 112 bodies and remains from beneath the rubble.

Recovery efforts were significantly challenged by a severe lack of heavy machinery. Gaza's civil defense reported that much of the work was aided by two excavators rented from the private sector with assistance from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The ICRC confirmed providing these machines, highlighting long-standing complaints that Israel's control over entry points has prevented sufficient construction tools and heavy equipment from entering Gaza for such operations. Over 8,000 bodies are still believed to be trapped under the rubble.

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In some cases, complete skeletons remained intact, held together only by clothing.