Gaza holds the funeral of the remains of more than 100 Palestinians pulled from under the rubble
Published 1 hour ago
Reading time: 4 minutes
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, on Sunday, mourned the remains of more than 100 people recovered from under the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli raids about three years ago, according to the Civil Defense in Gaza.
The remains were wrapped in Palestinian flags, and pictures of their owners were placed above them during the funeral ceremony in Gaza City.
The Civil Defense said that among those whose remains were recovered were at least 70 children, and that the victims belonged to a number of families, including Malka, Rahim, Balawi, and Qanbour.
Civil defense teams announced the recovery of the remains of 55 people from under the rubble of a building for the Malika family in the Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City, which they said had been subjected to Israeli bombing about three years ago.
According to the Civil Defense, more than 60 people, including displaced people, were inside the building when it was targeted.
One of the funeral participants told the BBC's "Middle East Diary" program, the emergency radio service, that the ceremony represents a "simple tribute" to his family members who were killed, after their remains could not be recovered for years.
He added that he lost 73 members of his family in a bombing that occurred on November 16, 2023, including his mother, his son, his brother’s children, and a number of his cousins.
He said: "We were unable to recover the bodies due to the huge amount of rubble and lack of equipment."
Another witness described to the BBC the moment his family home was bombed, saying: “It was near sunset, and we were preparing to pray when the bombing began. Then we could no longer see anything because of the thick dust, and the place was filled with screaming and fire spread.”
He said that he was slightly injured and that his mother was injured when the ceiling collapsed, adding that his brother, grandfather and a number of his relatives were killed.
A third witness described the funeral as "re-opening old wounds," saying that rescue teams were unable to reach his family's home after it was bombed.
He added to the BBC: "We could hear the cries of the wounded, but we were unable to help them until they died."
He continued: "We pulled out everyone we could from under the rubble, but we were unable to reach others under the roofs. We knew that 55 people were still buried under the rubble, and we could not get them out."
The Gaza Civil Defense says that the remains of about eight thousand people are still under the rubble of destroyed buildings throughout the Strip.
A man and his daughter were killed in an Israeli raid
The funeral ceremony coincided with the continuation of Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip, despite the ceasefire that entered into force on October 11, 2025.
Muhammad Abu Salamiya, director of Al-Shifa Hospital, said that an Israeli raid targeted a car west of Gaza City on Sunday, killing a man and his teenage daughter and wounding six other people.
The Israeli army said that its forces targeted a member of Hamas, and that it was still verifying the results of the strike.
The US-backed ceasefire stopped widespread fighting in the Strip, but did not end Israeli strikes.
Israel says its operations aim to prevent attacks by Hamas and other armed Palestinian factions, while Hamas accuses Israel of violating the ceasefire and undermining efforts to implement US President Donald Trump's plan to end the war, which includes the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the disarmament of Hamas.
