Hundreds of mourners gathered in Gaza City on Wednesday to bury 112 members of an extended family, including 40 children, whose bodies were recovered from the rubble of a residential block destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in November 2023. The mass funeral, held at a cemetery in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, came after Gaza's civil defence teams spent weeks digging through the debris under the cover of the current ceasefire.
Bodies recovered after months under rubble
The victims were among more than 300 people killed on 22 November 2023, when Israeli warplanes bombed a multi-storey residential building in the Tal al-Hawa area of Gaza City. The strike flattened the structure, leaving dozens of families buried beneath concrete and steel. According to Gaza's civil defence spokesperson, Mahmoud Basal, the recovery operation was painstaking, with teams using hand tools and heavy machinery to reach the remains.
Basal told reporters that the ceasefire, which began last October, has provided a critical window for such operations. "This is the largest single recovery since the truce took effect," he said. "Thousands of bodies are still buried under the rubble across the strip, and we are working day and night to bring them out."
Ceasefire brings limited respite
The ceasefire, brokered in October 2025, has not fully halted Israeli military operations in Gaza. Israeli forces have conducted sporadic airstrikes and drone strikes, which have killed at least 50 people since the truce began, according to local health officials. Despite this, the pause in major hostilities has allowed civil defence units to expand their search-and-recovery efforts in areas previously inaccessible due to active combat.
According to the United Nations, an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 bodies remain under the rubble across Gaza, with many in the northern governorates where the heaviest fighting occurred. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has called for sustained access to these areas to ensure dignified burials and to prevent health risks.
Mourners demand accountability
At the funeral, relatives and neighbors carried the shrouded bodies through the streets, with many weeping and chanting for justice. One mourner, Umm Khaled, who lost her daughter and three grandchildren in the strike, said: "The world watched as they bombed our homes. Now they watch us bury our children in pieces. This is not a ceasefire; it is a pause to count the dead."
The extended family, known as the al-Sawarka clan, had sought refuge in the building after being displaced from their homes in northern Gaza earlier in the war. The 22 November strike was one of the deadliest single incidents of the conflict, drawing international condemnation but no immediate action from global powers.
Ongoing recovery efforts
Gaza's civil defence has reported that since the ceasefire began, they have recovered more than 1,200 bodies from various locations, including residential areas, schools, and hospitals. The operation is complicated by the presence of unexploded ordnance and the structural instability of collapsed buildings.
Basal emphasized the scale of the task: "We are using every available resource, but we need heavy equipment, fuel, and protective gear. The international community must step up to help us clear the rubble and give the dead a proper burial."
International response and calls for investigation
Human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have called for independent investigations into the 2023 strike, citing evidence that it may constitute a war crime due to the high civilian toll. The Israeli military has maintained that it targeted Hamas operatives in the area, but has not provided specific evidence linking the al-Sawarka family to militant activity.
In a statement, the UN Human Rights Office said: "The killing of over 300 people in a single strike, including women and children, raises serious concerns under international humanitarian law. We urge all parties to ensure accountability and to allow unimpeded access for investigators."
Gaza's death toll and the road ahead
Since the start of the war in October 2023, more than 45,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza's health ministry, with thousands more missing and presumed dead under the rubble. The ceasefire, while fragile, has allowed some aid to enter, but humanitarian agencies warn that the situation remains catastrophic, with 90% of the population displaced and widespread shortages of food, water, and medicine.
As the funeral procession dispersed, many mourners lingered at the graves, placing flowers and reciting prayers. The al-Sawarka family said they will continue to demand that the world remember the names of those lost. "We are not numbers," said a family elder. "We are people who loved, worked, and dreamed. The world must see our grief and act."
