{"id":2312,"date":"2026-08-04T13:38:47","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T13:38:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=2312"},"modified":"2026-08-04T13:38:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T13:38:47","slug":"palestinians-hold-mass-funeral-for-112-bodies-finally-recovered-from-a-2023-gaza-strike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=2312","title":{"rendered":"Palestinians hold mass funeral for 112 bodies finally recovered from a 2023 Gaza strike"},"content":{"rendered":"
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DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza City (AP) \u2014 Palestinians gathered on Tuesday for a mass funeral of more than 100 bodies finally recovered from a deadly Israeli strike in Gaza<\/span> in 2023. More than 300 people were killed on Nov. 22, 2023, weeks into the war with Hamas, when warplanes flattened a residential block in Gaza City\u2019s Sabra neighborhood.<\/p>\n

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Around 40 bodies were recovered soon afterward in a frantic scramble of rough tools and bare hands, but most were buried deep beneath the rubble. Reports of the high number of victims in one of the war\u2019s deadliest attacks took days to reach the public in the chaos just before its first ceasefire.<\/p>\n

Over the weekend, first responders dug through the destroyed buildings and recovered remains of 112 victims, including 40 children, according to the Civil Defense, a rescue agency operating under the Hamas-run Interior Ministry.<\/p>\n

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It said 157 bodies still have not been found.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only crime of these martyrs was that they remained steadfast and resilient in their homes, believing that these homes would protect them,\u201d one relative, Taysir al-Hassayna, told The Associated Press following the funeral prayers.<\/p>\n

For the missing, it\u2019s \u201cas if their bodies had evaporated without a trace.\u201d<\/p>\n

The current ceasefire has allowed recovery of remains<\/h2>\n

Only now are some bodies of people killed in the war\u2019s ferocious early months slowly being recovered, as a fragile ceasefire that took effect in October allows such efforts to push ahead in parts of devastated Gaza.<\/p>\n

Those discoveries have contributed to the war\u2019s rising toll. The Hamas-led militant attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killed around 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage. Israel\u2019s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 73,377 Palestinians, including since the ceasefire, Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry said.<\/p>\n

At least 7,400 people have been reported<\/span> by relatives to still be under the rubble, Zaher al-Waheidi, head of the ministry\u2019s records department, told the AP. The true number is likely thousands higher because in some cases entire families<\/span> were killed in a single bombing, leaving no one to report the missing, al-Waheidi has said.<\/p>\n

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The people mourned on Tuesday were from a residential block belonging to the Hassayna and Abu Sharia clan, and many were related. The Associated Press has identified at least 60 families across Gaza<\/span> who lost 25 or more family members during the first three months of war.<\/p>\n

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On Tuesday, the remains of the victims, wrapped in Palestinian flags, were laid in rows on the ground. Many were marked with photos, and flower petals were scattered around all. Hundreds of people surrounded the bodies for funeral prayers, some standing on the rubble.<\/p>\n

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Following the prayers, people carried the bodies on stretchers along a narrow street lined by destroyed buildings and buried them in a nearby cemetery.<\/p>\n

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