A mass funeral was held in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighborhood for 100 people,including 60 children, whose remains were found under demolished homes. The burials at Al-Ahli cemetery follow a recovery effort that began on July 19.
The 100 victims of the Zeitoun neighborhood rubble
In the ruined Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, a solemn procession honored 100 Palestinians recovered from the debris of flattened residential buildings. The deceased belonged to the Rahim, Balawi, Malaka, Qanbour, and Salmi families, and were identified through intensive search operations.. According to the report, the remains were displayed on a makeshift platform surrounded by Palestinian flags before being transferred to Al-Ahli cemetery for burial.
The ceremony was attended by tens of thousands of mourners, community leaders, and representatives of Gaza's Civil Defence. Memorial speeches during the event emphasized the brutality of the air strikes that devastated the Zeitoun neighborhood two and a half years ago, marking this as one of the largest post-war funerals in the history of the Palestinian people.
1,072 bodies still trapped across 147 destroyed sites
The recovery of these 100 individuals is only a fraction of a larger, ongoing crisis.. As the report says, the second phase of the rescue operation estimates that 1,072 bodies remain trapped across 147 different destroyed sites. This scale of loss echoes a similar mass burial held in August for 112 victims who were retrieved from the Sabra neighborhood.
The effort to recover these remains is an immense logistical challenge, requiring an estimated 800 hours of painstaking work. The recurring need for mass burials in places like the Sabra and Zeitoun neighborhoods underscores a broader pattern of civilian casualties that continue to be discovered long after the initial strikes have occurred.
The October 2025 ceasefire and the struggle for heavy equipment
Despite the signing of a controversial October 2025 cease-fire agreement, the recovery of remains in Gaza City remains hampered by strict regulations. The governments of the enclave are currently forced to navigate mandates that limit the use of heavy equipment, which is essential for clearing the massive amounts of rubble trapping the deceased.
While the funeral procession was coordinated with Israeli authorities to ensure a smooth transfer of remains, significant friction remains. Israeli officials have reportedly failed to fully comply with diplomatic promises to allow the passage of sufficient medical supplies and the heavy machinery required for the entire Gaza strip, leaving many families in a state of prolonged grief.
Condemnation from Turkey, Brazil, and South Africa over Palestinian governance
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has drawn sharp criticism from the international community, with nations including Turkey, Brazil, South Africa, Ethiopia, and Nigeria condemning the Israeli stance. These states have reaffirmed that Gaza and Jerusalem must remain under Palestinian governance, while international observers have raised alarms that proposed deportation plans for Palestinians could lead to grave humanitarian consequences.
The personal toll of these political stalemates is captuured by the experience of Mahmoud Murtaja, who lost his pregnant wife and three-year-old daughter in a bombing .. Murtaja described the recovery of remains as "reopening a wound that never healed," noting that for many, all that remains to be buried are "skulls and bones." This tragedy persists alongside ongoing violence, including recent hateful shelling that killed two more Palestinians and continued gunfire harming civilians in the West Bank.
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