Gaza Mass Funeral for Over 110 Recovered from Rubble

Dozens of Palestinians gathered in Gaza City on Sunday for a mass funeral of more than 110 people whose bodies were recovered from beneath the rubble of their homes in the Zeitoun neighborhood. The dead were killed in Israeli bombardment during the ongoing war, and their remains had been trapped under debris for over three years.

Civil defense crews, operating under the Hamas-run Interior Ministry, recovered the bodies over the past few days. According to the agency, the dead included more than 70 children from three families whose homes were destroyed in Israeli strikes.

Mourners wrapped the bodies in white shrouds and draped them with Palestinian flags, placing photographs of the deceased on top. The bodies were laid in rows as funeral prayers were performed, after which relatives carried them through the streets to a nearby cemetery for burial.

Mustafa Quzghat, a relative of the dead, described the scene as "painful, heartbreaking," noting that more than 110 martyrs from families including Irhim, Malaka, and Dahdouh were being buried. Another relative, Raghib Swirki, said the victims had remained under the rubble because Civil Defense lacked the necessary equipment to recover them earlier.

The nearly three-year Israel-Hamas war has killed about 73,650 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, does not distinguish between civilians and militants but says women and children account for about half of the death toll. Its records are considered generally reliable by U.N. agencies and international organizations.