Gaza families struggle to bury the dead as cemeteries fill up amid war

Families in Gaza are struggling to find space to bury relatives as cemeteries fill up during the war. In Gaza City's Zeitoun neighbourhood, 20-year-old Omar al-Sawhi said he had to look for a burial place for his father, Mohammad, after he was shot dead near the so-called Yellow Line, an Israeli-designated military zone. The shortage of graves has forced some families to use existing family plots or improvised burial sites.

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Mohammad al-Sawhi, 40, was working at a small roadside stall selling tea and coffee when a bullet struck him in the neck on 10 June, according to the account provided. Omar said he went to Zeitoun Cemetery and found the graves tightly packed together, with many marked only by a stone and a piece of paper bearing the name of the deceased. He said a grave cost about 500 shekels, or $167, which his family could not afford.

He added that there was no space for a new grave, so his father was buried in his grandfather's grave. The report says the burial crisis is linked to the wider collapse of services in Gaza and the dangers created by ongoing Israeli attacks. It says thousands of dead Palestinians were counted as missing during the war, with many buried in gardens, tents, displaced persons' camps, schools or hospitals.

After a relative reduction in violence following a United States-brokered ceasefire in October 2025, families began recovering bodies from destroyed homes and temporary burial sites. Gaza authorities said the remains of 529 Palestinians were recovered from seven mass graves in hospital grounds. The shortage of burial space is also tied to the scale of deaths since the war began in October 2023.

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The report says more than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed since then, creating pressure on cemeteries already damaged or overcrowded by the conflict. In that context, burial has become another visible sign of the humanitarian strain facing civilians, alongside displacement, damaged infrastructure and the difficulty of recovering the dead. The issue also reflects how the war continues to affect daily life even when fighting eases in some areas.

The account highlights the role of local cemeteries such as Zeitoun Cemetery, where graves are now tightly packed and often marked in makeshift ways. It also points to the practical and financial burden on families, who may be unable to pay for a grave or access a proper burial site. The use of family graves, gardens and other improvised locations suggests that the crisis is not limited to one neighbourhood but is part of a wider pattern across Gaza.

The recovery of bodies from mass graves and temporary sites shows how the conflict has disrupted even the most basic burial practices. What remains unclear is how many bodies are still unburied or buried in temporary sites, and how much space remains in Gaza's cemeteries. It is also not clear how quickly families will be able to recover and rebury relatives as conditions remain unstable.

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