In Gaza City, amidst the ruins and remnants of buildings, over 100 orange stretchers adorned with Palestinian flags marked the scene of an Israeli airstrike that occurred at the beginning of the conflict. Some of the flags were smaller, symbolizing the young victims. Among the makeshift shrouds, photos and flower petals were visible, revealing the heartbreaking aftermath of the strike.
The victims, numbering 112 individuals from the Abu Sharia and Hasayna families, both part of the same clan, lost their lives in the November 23, 2023, Israeli airstrike in their neighborhood. The recovery of their remains, now reduced to bones, teeth, and shreds of clothing, took nearly three years.
At a funeral held on Tuesday, hundreds of mourners, including surviving family members, gathered to pay their respects as the deceased were laid to rest at a nearby cemetery. The families had been searching alongside Gaza’s Civil Defence for years to locate their loved ones, facing challenges due to the scarcity of heavy machinery in the area.
Mahmoud Hasayneh, present to bury his brothers, expressed the resurfacing of old wounds for the family. He shared, “Now we will start a new broken heart with this mission and all our family is crying.”
Youssef Abu Sharia, who lost multiple family members in the same airstrike, recounted the painstaking process of searching for their remains. Hindered by the lack of equipment, efforts to retrieve the victims’ bodies have been slow, with some machinery damaged in previous strikes and Israeli restrictions impeding the entry of necessary equipment.
Abu Sharia, who had separated from his family during the onset of the war to mitigate risks, spoke of the tragic loss of his parents and brother in the strike. The emotional burden of waiting for years to find closure was palpable at the funeral, where relief mingled with sorrow over the reopened wounds.
Despite the challenges, families and volunteers resorted to manual methods, digging through debris with their bare hands in the absence of suitable machinery. Calls have been made by Civil Defence and human rights groups for Israel to facilitate the entry of heavy equipment to aid in the recovery efforts in Gaza.
Zaher al-Waheidi, head of the health ministry’s records department, mentioned that thousands of people are still trapped under the rubble in Gaza, with the actual number likely significantly higher due to entire families being wiped out in single attacks. Mahmoud Basal, the Civil Defence spokesperson, emphasized the urgent need for resources and equipment to address the crisis.
The long-awaited burial ceremony commenced with prayers at the strike site before the shrouded remains were carried in a procession to the cemetery, accompanied by chants and flower petals. As the Abu Sharia and Hasayneh families bid their final goodbyes, thoughts of the many still missing lingered in their hearts, echoing the unanswered question, “Where did they go?”