Mass funeral held for 112 victims buried under rubble of Gaza flats for nearly three years

A mass funeral has been held in Gaza for more than 100 people finally recovered from the site of an Israeli attack on an apartment block.

More than 300 Palestinians were killed on 22 November 2023, less than two months into the Israel-Hamas war, in an airstrike in Gaza City's Sabra neighbourhood.

About 40 bodies were recovered in the immediate aftermath, but most were buried too deep.

Gaza's civil defence agency said other victims were located this past weekend by emergency workers who dug through the destroyed buildings to retrieve the remains of 112 people, including 40 children.

It added that 157 bodies have still not been found.

"The only crime of these martyrs was that they remained steadfast and resilient in their homes," one relative, Taysir al Hassayna, told AP news agency.

For the missing, it's "as if their bodies had evaporated without a trace", al Hassayna added.

Many people killed in the war - which started after Hamas's terror attack on Israel - are only now being recovered from countless ruined buildings.

At least 7,400 people have been reported by relatives as still being buried in rubble, according to Gaza's health ministry.

Its head of records, Zaher al-Waheidi, said the true figure is likely to be thousands higher as in many cases whole families were killed, leaving no one to report the missing.

Israel insists it has not deliberately targeted civilians and that those killed are as a result of Hamas embedding itself among Gaza's densely packed population.

However, critics claimed efforts to avoid civilians have been either non-existent or woefully lacking.

Gaza's health ministry - which is under the Hamas-led government - says more than 73,000 people have been killed since the war began.

The conflict started after Hamas stormed into Israel on 7 October 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.

Scattered petals and photos

Those mourned on Tuesday were from an apartment block belonging to the Hassayna and Abu Sharia clan.

The remains were wrapped in Palestinian flags and laid in rows. Many were marked with a photo and petals were scattered.

Hundreds of people gathered around the remains to pray before the bodies were carried on stretchers down a narrow street to be buried at a nearby cemetery.

An Israel-Hamas ceasefire began in October 2025 but both sides accuse each other of breaching it. Gaza's health ministry says at least 1,252 have been killed since it came into effect.

Israel says its strikes are against militants who threaten its soldiers, against those involved in the October 2023 terror attack, or who carry out other violations.

Five Israeli soldiers have also been killed since the ceasefire started.

The future of Gaza and hopes of rebuilding it remain fragile. Hamas has kept its weapons despite agreeing to disarm, while Israel has refused to withdraw and still controls half the territory.

A new disarmament deal is in the works via America's Board of Peace initiative, but Gaza remains in a shattered, desperate state.

Most of its two million people are displaced and many are still living in overcrowded and unsanitary tent camps plagued by rats and outbreaks of diseases like chickenpox.

(c) Sky News 2026: Mass funeral held for 112 victims buried under rubble of Gaza flats for nearly three years