A mass funeral was held in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza on Tuesday for dozens of Palestinians killed by previous Israeli attacks, whose remains have been recovered from the rubble.
Reports vary on the number of people who were buried during the funeral, with Reuters reporting 41 and the Yaffa News Network reporting that 51 Palestinians were mourned.
Mohammad Abu Nabhan, a 42-year-old Gaza resident, told Yaffa that he was mourning 13 members of his family, including his mother, two brothers, their wives and children, who were killed by an Israeli strike on the family home in July, 2025.
Areej Farajallah, 36, said that she was saying goodbye to her husband, Samir, who was killed by an Israeli strike in November 2024. She said she had only two of his bones to bury, calling it “better than nothing.”
“There are mixed feelings between relief, sadness, and pain. But thank God, the fire in my heart has eased a little, because my husband now has a grave that my orphaned children and I can visit,” Farajallah told Reuters.
Gaza’s rescue workers have struggled to dig bodies out of the rubble as the US and Israel are still blocking construction equipment from entering the Strip and preventing reconstruction, a joint decision made by the two countries.
There have been multiple mass funerals held in Gaza this year, including one in Gaza City earlier in September, where about 100 Palestinians, including 62 children, were buried.
Gaza’s Civil Defense said on Tuesday that there will be another mass funeral for 105 Palestinians in Gaza City on October 1. “May God have mercy on the martyrs and grant their families patience and strength,” the agency said on Telegram.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said that since the ceasefire deal, which Israel has constantly violated, was signed in October 2025, 834 bodies have been recovered from the rubble. It’s estimated that more than 8,000 remain buried, including many on the Israeli-occupied side of the strip, where the IDF has continued demolitions and has been removing rubble, raising questions about whether human remains are also being removed.
Raed al-Dahshan, head of Gaza’s Civil Defense, said earlier this month that with the proper equipment, it would take about 90 days to recover all the bodies, but “if that equipment is barred from entering Gaza … this work will continue for years.”
