In Gaza City, remnants of an Israeli airstrike from the beginning of the conflict were solemnly displayed on Tuesday morning among the debris and ruins. Over 100 orange stretchers, adorned with Palestinian flags, lay scattered, some smaller ones signifying children. These remains, reduced to bones, teeth, and tattered clothing, belonged to 112 individuals from the Abu Sharia and Hasayna families. The families, part of the same clan, lost their lives in the Israeli airstrike on November 23, 2023.
A funeral gathering took place in the neighborhood where the strike occurred, where mourners, including surviving family members, prayed for the deceased as they were laid to rest at the nearby Baptist cemetery. The families had been searching for their loved ones alongside Gaza’s Civil Defence, a group of first responders involved in rescue operations. However, the slow progress in retrieving the remains was attributed to the lack of heavy machinery in the area.
Mahmoud Hasayneh, present to bury his brothers, expressed the reopening of old wounds for the family, stating, “Now we will start a new broken heart with this mission, and all our family is crying.”
Following the war’s outbreak in October 2023, Youssef Abu Sharia, who lost several family members in the strike, had been awaiting the slow excavation process to uncover any buried human remains. Israeli strikes damaging heavy machinery and restrictions on importing such equipment into Gaza have hindered the retrieval efforts.
At the emotional funeral, Abu Sharia and his relatives finally found closure after three years of waiting. Tayseer Abu Sharia mentioned the challenges they faced and the manual labor they resorted to while searching for their loved ones amidst the rubble.
The Civil Defence and human rights organizations have urged Israel to allow the entry of heavy equipment into Gaza to aid in excavating bodies. According to Zaher al-Waheidi from the health ministry, thousands of people are still trapped under the rubble in Gaza, with many families wiped out in single attacks, leaving no one to report the missing.
The funeral served as a poignant moment for the families to bid farewell to their loved ones. The ceremony began with prayers at the strike site, followed by a procession to the cemetery where the remains were laid to rest. As they watched the burial, Youssef Abu Sharia and his family pondered the fate of those still missing, lamenting the absence of closure for their lost ones.
