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- October 13, 202618°
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- October 13, 202618°
Delayed funeral held for 100 Palestinians recovered from Gaza rubble
A funeral ceremony was held for the remains of 100 Palestinians recovered from the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighborhood. At least 60 of those who died were children. The remains were buried at the Ahli Baptist Cemetery after funeral prayers.
A funeral ceremony was held for the remains of 100 Palestinians recovered from the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighborhood. At least 60 of the remains, recovered two and a half years after the attack, belonged to children.
The remains, recovered from the rubble a few days earlier, were placed side by side in an area among the destroyed buildings where the attack took place. Wrapped in Palestinian flags, the remains were adorned with flowers.
Funeral prayers were held at a ceremony attended by the relatives of those who died, community leaders, and political and social figures. The remains were later buried at the Ahli Baptist Cemetery in Zeitoun.
Relatives said farewell years later
During the ceremony, officials from the Civil Defense Directorate who led the recovery efforts, relatives of those who died, and prominent figures from the area delivered memorial speeches.
Mahmoud Murtaja, who lost his nine-month-pregnant wife and three-year-old daughter in the attack, said they had been awaiting the birth of their new baby before losing his family. Murtaja said the remains of his wife, daughter, and unborn baby had remained under the rubble for nearly three years.
Murtaja said the recovery of the bodies brought his grief back, adding that he had lost the baby whose birth he had been awaiting without ever being able to hold it. He said he felt as though his wife and children had died only the day before, and that although their remains were before him, he could not embrace them or say goodbye.
More remains believed to be under the rubble
Mustafa Kazat, a member of the Gaza City Municipal Council, said children, women, and elderly people were among those recovered from the rubble. Kazat said a similar situation could exist in other neighborhoods because the necessary resources had not been provided.
Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Civil Defense Directorate, said the recovery of remains from under the rubble was progressing extremely slowly because of the scale of the destruction and the shortage of heavy machinery. Basal said most of those buried at the ceremony were children and that the remains of about 60 children had been recovered.
Basal said the biggest obstacle to search-and-rescue operations was the lack of equipment. He announced that the second phase of a project to recover bodies from the rubble of homes destroyed in Israeli attacks would involve 800 hours of work.
During this phase, work will be carried out in the rubble of 147 homes in Gaza City as well as in the northern and central parts of the Gaza Strip. More than 1,000 remains are believed to be under that rubble.
First phase recovered 333 bodies
The first phase of the project began in late November 2025. During this phase, the bodies and remains of about 333 people were recovered from among 559 people missing beneath the rubble of 54 homes and buildings.
In a statement issued in October 2025, the Government Media Office in Gaza said that approximately 9,500 Palestinians had been missing since Israel began its attacks in October 2023. The missing included people whose bodies were still under the rubble.
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