In the heart of Gaza City, amidst the debris and remnants of buildings, over 100 orange stretchers, draped with Palestinian flags, marked the site of an Israeli airstrike that occurred at the onset of the conflict. Some flags, smaller in size, symbolized the remains of children. Photos and flower petals adorned the makeshift shrouds, holding the remains of 112 individuals from the Abu Sharia and Hasayna families, who perished in the airstrike on November 23, 2023.
Following a painstaking three-year effort, the families, along with other mourners, gathered to lay their loved ones to rest at the nearby Baptist cemetery. The process of recovering the remains was slow due to the scarcity of heavy machinery in the area. Mahmoud Hasayneh, present to bury his brothers, expressed the rekindling of old wounds for the family, stating, “Now we will start a new broken heart with this mission and all our family is crying.”
Last month, Youssef Abu Sharia, who lost several family members in the strike, witnessed excavation efforts at the site to unearth any remaining human remains. The shortage of functional heavy machinery in Gaza, exacerbated by Israeli restrictions on equipment entry, hindered the retrieval process. Abu Sharia and his family had separated during the war to mitigate the risk of losing all members in a single strike. Tragically, his parents and brother, who stayed in Gaza City, fell victim to the deadly attack.
At the emotional funeral, attendees expressed a mix of relief and sorrow, finally being able to bid farewell to their loved ones after years of waiting. Tayseer Abu Sharia recounted the arduous journey of searching for their relatives, which eventually led them to manually sift through rubble with their bare hands.
The Civil Defence and human rights organizations have called for Israel’s cooperation in allowing heavy machinery into Gaza to expedite body recovery efforts. According to Zaher al-Waheidi, thousands of individuals are still unaccounted for under the rubble in Gaza, with the actual count likely significantly higher due to entire families perishing in single strikes.
The burial ceremony commenced with a prayer at the strike site, followed by a solemn procession to the cemetery where the Abu Sharia and Hasayneh families laid their loved ones to rest. As chants and prayers filled the air, the families found solace in finally providing a long-awaited dignified farewell to their deceased members. Despite the closure brought by the burial, the families couldn’t shake the lingering question of the whereabouts of the still-missing individuals.
