Thousands of Palestinians have held a mass funeral procession for 100 people, including around 60 children, whose remains were recovered from beneath the rubble of destroyed homes in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighbourhood.
Mourners, including victims' relatives alongside community and political figures, gathered as the remains were laid out near the ruins of flattened residential buildings and draped in Palestinian flags.
Following memorial addresses by Gaza's Civil Defence and community representatives, the bodies were taken for burial at Al-Ahli cemetery.
Civil Defence personnel retrieved the victims during the second phase of an operation launched on July 19 to recover thousands of Palestinians still buried across the enclave.
Local authorities stated the victims—belonging to the Rahim, Balawi, Malaka, Qanbour, and Salmi families—were killed when Israeli air strikes levelled several residential homes roughly two and a half years ago.
Delayed farewells
The funeral witnessed distressing scenes as families bid farewell to loved ones left unreachable for years.
Mahmoud Murtaja, who lost his pregnant wife and three-year-old daughter, said the recovery reopened profound grief.
"It is as though they were killed yesterday. Here they are before you, but you cannot embrace them or bid them farewell. All that remains are skulls and bones," Murtaja told Anadolu agency.
The ceremony marks one of the largest funerals in Palestinian history, following an earlier service in August for 112 victims retrieved in the Sabra neighbourhood.
The second recovery phase spans 800 hours across 147 destroyed sites, where an estimated 1,072 bodies remain trapped.
While the October 2025 ceasefire agreement stipulated that Israel permit heavy equipment into Gaza, search teams continue to rely on deteriorating tools amid tight entry restrictions.
