More than 100 orange stretchers draped in Palestinian flags marked the funeral of 112 people in Gaza City on Tuesday, nearly three years after they were killed in an Israeli airstrike on November 23, 2023. The victims, from the Abu Sharia and Hasayna families, were laid to rest at a nearby Baptist cemetery after their remains—reduced to bones, teeth and fragments of clothing—were finally recovered from rubble. Heavy machinery shortages in Gaza, worsened by Israeli restrictions on equipment entry, delayed the recovery process, according to Gaza's Civil Defence and family members. Some survivors had resorted to digging through debris by hand, using their nails and bare hands, in desperate attempts to locate loved ones.
Youssef Abu Sharia, 23, attended the burial after years of searching for his mother, father and brother, who died in the strike. He and other relatives had split up in October 2023 to reduce the risk of mass casualties, but his parents and brother remained in Gaza City and were killed soon after. Mahmoud Hasayneh, another mourner, said the burial reopened emotional wounds. Tayseer Abu Sharia described the prolonged wait as agonizing, noting that families often had to lead recovery efforts themselves due to lack of resources. The United Nations confirmed last month that restrictions on heavy equipment have hindered search and recovery operations. Thousands of people remain missing in Gaza under rubble, with no trace of their remains recovered.
The burial of 112 family members three years after their deaths exposes the prolonged humanitarian toll caused by restricted access to recovery resources in Gaza. When families must use their hands to dig for remains, the delay in closure becomes its own form of suffering.
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