Gaza: 70 children among 100 laid to rest after two years

One of Gaza’s largest mass funerals brings families long-awaited closure..

Gaza Strip: Palestinians gathered on Sunday, September 6, to bury around 100 people whose remains were recently retrieved from homes destroyed in Gaza City’s Al-Zaytoun neighbourhood, where they had lain beneath the debris for more than two years.

About 70 of those recovered were children, according to Palestinian journalists. The dead also included women and members of several families killed when Israeli strikes hit residential buildings in the area.

Civil Defense crews spent days searching through the ruins to reach the victims. At one site, the remains of 55 people were recovered from a family home hit by an Israeli airstrike on November 19, 2023, while more than 60 displaced Palestinians were sheltering there.

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Hundreds of relatives and other mourners attended the funeral, with bodies and remains placed in shrouds and draped in Palestinian flags. Families gathered with candles, flowers and photographs before saying their final goodbyes.

The procession moved through Al-Zaytoun before the victims were buried at the Martyrs’ Cemetery following funeral prayers, bringing a measure of closure to families who had waited years to recover their relatives.

Recovery efforts continue amid equipment shortages

Sunday’s ceremony was among the largest mass funerals in Palestinian history. It followed a similar burial in Gaza City’s Sabra neighbourhood in August, when 112 Palestinians recovered from beneath the rubble were laid to rest.

Recovery teams are now searching 147 destroyed homes across Gaza City and northern and central Gaza, where an estimated 1,072 bodies are believed to remain buried. During an earlier phase, Civil Defense crews recovered around 333 bodies and remains from 54 sites.

Palestinian authorities said the Gaza ceasefire, which took effect on October 10, 2025, was expected to allow the entry of heavy machinery and equipment needed to speed up recovery operations.

Civil Defense authorities believe more than 1,000 bodies may still lie beneath the rubble at scores of destroyed homes across Gaza City and other parts of the enclave.

Israel’s war on Gaza began following the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people, according to Israeli authorities. Israel’s subsequent military offensive has killed more than 73,651 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the territory’s Health Ministry.