Palestinians in Gaza bury remains of 100 people recovered from rubble

Palestinians in northern Gaza are holding funeral ceremonies for regarding 100 residents, including 60 children, whose remains were recovered from the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighbourhood.

Key points

• Gaza's Health Ministry notes at least 73, 651 Palestinians have been killed and 174, 592 wounded since October 2023.
• Civil defence crews and family members had spent weeks digging through the ruins of homes hit during Israel's genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza.
• Though wrapped in shrouds resembling intact bodies, were often only fragments, al-Aloul remarked the remains.
• Al-Aloul remarked families had waited a long time to be able to bury their loved ones in "known, proper cemeteries".
• "We don't have equipment, we don't have protective equipment" for rescue workers, he informed Al Jazeera.

In practice, the remains were carried on Sunday by family members from Zeitoun to al-Ma'madani cemetery in central Gaza City for burial, according to Al Jazeera's correspondent at the scene, Ghazi al-Aloul.

Civil defence crews and family members had spent weeks digging through the ruins of homes hit during Israel's genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza. It began in October 2023.

Plenty of of the victims were part of the extended Malaka family. It alone lost 55 members.

Al-Aloul remarked families had waited a long time to be able to bury their loved ones in "known, proper cemeteries". He remarked that the chance to bury the remains of family members was "not available to every family", noting that Israeli forces had destroyed and dug up cemeteries elsewhere in Gaza during the war.

"These are bone remains and remnants of belongings that may have been found on the bodies, especially the children's, " he remarked, adding that no complete bodies had been recovered from the site as "the Israeli occupation has prolonged this process, and continues to prolong it and prevent it from being completed quickly".

Raed al-Dahshan, head of Gaza's civil defence service, informed Al Jazeera his teams had formulated aims to carry out recovery operations for thousands more missing bodies, but noted the work was being held back by a shortage of heavy machinery.

Dahshan remarked the recovery of an estimated 8, 000 bodies still believed to be under rubble could be completed in concerning 90 days with proper equipment, but "if that equipment is barred from entering Gaza. This work will continue for years".

He remarked his agency had submitted a detailed list of needed equipment to international institutions and was willing to have that machinery remain under international control rather than with the civil defence directly.

He remarked crews needed substantial excavators, personal protective equipment and search equipment to locate remains urgently.

On identifying remains, he remarked crews rely on survivors and neighbouring families to establish who was in a building and where they were at the time of the strike, backed by a team of engineers who sort and document findings in the field. He remarked Israeli forces' failure to warn residents before strikes meant "dozens, even hundreds" of homes still required excavation.

Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN human rights office in the occupied Palestinian territories, informed Al Jazeera that the scenes were a reminder of "the brutality of this conflict", noting some of the remains dated back to November 2023.

"Thousands of individuals are still languishing under this rubble. We're talking regarding areas that may be under Israeli military control, 70 percent of Gaza – there's difficulty accessing these areas to extract these bodies."

"Accountability must happen. It's essential that we preserve the evidence we've been able to obtain during this sensitive period."

As well as more than 500 bodies from the Al-Taj tower site, office-holders and activists noted, similar recovery operations in recent weeks have retrieved more than 100 bodies of individuals from the Abu Shariah and Hassaniya families who were killed in a single strike.

For now, palestinians in Gaza bury remains of 100 people recovered from rubble remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.