In a solemn gathering in Gaza City, 112 Palestinians were laid to rest in a mass funeral for victims of a November 2023 Israeli strike. Most of the dead were women and children from the Abu Sharia and Hassayna families. Their bodies, some still wearing Palestinian flags, were retrieved after a two-week effort to clear the rubble in the Sabra neighborhood.
The deadly strike and the aftermath
The Israeli attack on 22 November 2023 hit a multi-storey residential building, killing 40 children, 38 women, and seven people with disabilities. Civil Defence teams, supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross, later began recovering the bodies. The operation was dangerous due to ongoing hostilities, requiring coordination with Israel via third parties.
Relatives of the victims were present to help identify and guide crews. Yousef Abu Sharia, the sole survivor from his family, said, 'I lost my mother, my father, my uncle and my cousins and all my family under this rubble.'
Humanitarian efforts and the search for closure
The International Committee of the Red Cross provided tools, protective equipment, and training to the Civil Defence in Gaza. 'It is essential for families to receive closure and mourn their loss in their own way,' said ICRC spokesperson Patrick Griffiths.
Civil Defence spokesman Mohammed Basel said the building had over 180 civilians in it at the time of the strike, 90% of whom were killed. More remains are believed to be buried in the rubble, while thousands of others in the Gaza Strip remain unaccounted for.
The mass funeral marks one of the largest of its kind in Gaza. It comes amid ongoing conflict and a death toll that has risen to 73,377, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The BBC sought comment from the Israel Defense Forces but has yet to receive a response.
In the aftermath of the strike, dramatic footage captured the remains of the victims lined up in rows. Each body was covered with a Palestinian flag, and some had pictures of the deceased for identification. Relatives carried the coffins away during the funeral, which is reported to be the biggest of its kind in the region.
The attack occurred on 22 November, a day of heavy bombardment in Gaza City. It took place about six weeks after the 7 October Hamas-led assault on southern Israel, which resulted in 1,200 people killed and 251 taken hostage. The Israeli strike on the residential block was part of a wider campaign of military operations following the 7 October attacks.
Ali Abu Sharia, a mourning relative, described the emotional impact of the event: 'I think this is a feeling that was supposed to be felt, a feeling of pain, grief and loss. After we managed to retrieve them and bury them, perhaps we can be partially relieved despite the pain of loss and all we're still living through.' The funeral offered a moment of collective mourning for a community already enduring immense suffering.
The recovery operation involved extensive coordination between local and international teams. Patrick Griffiths from the ICRC explained the support given: 'We provide material support — literally the gloves, shovels, protective equipment and body bags they use.
The ICRC also rented excavators for the operation, given the limited availability of such equipment in Gaza. This support was crucial for the teams working under difficult conditions. 'It's not an answer any family wants to receive — confirmation that your loved one has been killed,' Griffiths added. 'But it's essential towards them receiving closure and being able to mourn their loss in their own way.'
Mohammed Basel from the Civil Defence described the scale of the tragedy. Most of them, around 90%, were killed,' he said. Immediately after the attack, Civil Defence teams were unable to reach the site due to the danger and the need to coordinate with Israel through intermediaries.
Nahed al-Hassayna, a relative of the victims, shared his sorrow and confusion as he showed the BBC the remains of his family's home. Why? Why were they killed?'
The emotional weight of the event was palpable, as Yousef Abu Sharia stood among the rubble, describing how he had lost almost his entire family. I lost them under this rubble,' he said.
Despite the partial success of the recovery operation, many more bodies are believed to still be buried under the rubble of the building. Across the Gaza Strip, thousands of people remain unaccounted for, their remains thought to be buried under the debris left by the intense Israeli air strikes during the war.
The mass funeral highlights the ongoing human toll of the conflict.
The event in Gaza City underscores the deep sense of grief and loss felt by families who have suffered such devastating losses. As the conflict continues, the search for closure and the ability to mourn in their own way remain essential for those who have lost loved ones to the war.
Gaza holds mass funeral for 112 people in extended family recovered from wartime rubble In Gaza City, row after row of human remains — 112 people in all, and hauntingly from the same extended family — were laid in the morning sun, each draped in a Palestinian flag. This large family group, including dozens of women and children from the Hassayna and Abu Sharia clan in Gaza City, died nearly three years ago. An Israeli military strike hit the clan's residential compound in the second month of the war, on Nov. 23, 2023, according to Gaza's Civil Defense, which operates under the Hamas-run Interior Ministry. Israel's military has not responded to a request for comment about the strike, but said throughout the conflict that it targeted militants, accusing Hamas of operating in areas that put civilians at risk. Recovery teams were only able to access the site in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City in mid-July, exhuming and collecting decomposed remains over the last two weeks of the month. Gaza authorities described this as the strip's biggest mass funeral since Oct. 7, 2023, after Hamas-led militants stormed southern Israel, igniting fierce Israeli retribution that has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians in the nearly three years since, according to figures from Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry. One mourner showered flower petals over the covered bodies of the Hassayna and Abu Sharia clan as women and children watched from atop partly demolished buildings around the earthen square. A banner with the faces of dozens of children served as the backdrop of a speech from the spokesperson of Gaza's Civil Defense.
'O nation, why are children getting killed in Gaza? Why are women getting killed in Gaza?' asked Mahmoud Basal at the service. 'Why are massacres committed against innocents in Gaza?' The words 'Stop the genocide in Gaza,' in both Arabic and English, had been scrawled on the podium he spoke from. Israeli officials have vehemently disputed accusations that Israel committed genocide in Gaza, saying it was Hamas that attempted genocide with its Oct. 7 attack on the Jewish state.
Lara Abu Shreia, 39, described the anguish of losing her family and the emotional impact of the delayed funeral. 'Today felt like the first day I lost them. It was a renewed grief, saying goodbye to them this way,' she said. She lost her mother, Nawal, and eight siblings, as well as nieces and nephews in the November 2023 strike. Lara was displaced to southern Gaza at the time and returned in January 2025 to find devastation. She repeatedly tried to reach her family after the strike but received no response. 'Sometimes I think maybe someone was injured and waiting for help. Maybe someone could have been saved. Sometimes I think about them suffocating under the rubble. I almost lose my mind thinking about their last moments,' she said.
Civil Defence teams began recovering remains from the destroyed homes in Sabra, unearthing 112 bodies out of 153 believed missing. Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for Gaza’s Civil Defence, noted that more than 8,000 bodies are estimated to remain beneath the rubble of destroyed buildings. 'Today, 112 martyrs are being buried in one funeral for the first time in the history of the Palestinian cause,' he said. He described the challenges of recovery operations, noting the need for more equipment and capabilities to carry out the humanitarian mission. 'Some bodies have disappeared. Some have evaporated. Some have been scattered into very small pieces, making identification extremely difficult,' he added.
Ali Abu Shreia, 50, was also displaced in southern Gaza when the strikes hit. 'The news began arriving: one house was hit, then another, then another,' he recalled. 'I lost my two brothers – Ahmad, 51; and Moeen, 53 – and their entire families.'
