Gaza prepares burial of remains of 105 people killed in 2023 Israeli strike

Palestinians in Gaza are preparing to bury the remains of 105 people recovered from the site of a devastating Israeli attack in Gaza City in October 2023. Coffins containing the remains are due to be carried in a funeral procession involving family members before burial in Sheikh Radwan cemetery, northwest of Gaza City. The recovery and burial process is taking place more than two years after the strike on the Yarmouk Square neighbourhood.

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The victims were killed in a series of Israeli air strikes on the afternoon of 25 October 2023, when at least 20 bombs levelled the seven-storey Al Taj 3 building and destroyed several other residential buildings nearby. Gaza's civil defence said the recovery operation was carried out in coordination with an Egyptian committee. The General Directorate of Civil Defence said the funeral procession was planned for Thursday, and the remains would then be laid to rest in the cemetery.

Civil defence operations director Abdul al-Majdalawi said it had been impossible to reach the bodies at the time of the attack. He said bulldozers, excavators and other heavy machinery used by civil defence teams in Gaza were directly and deliberately targeted. That account underlines the difficulty of recovery work in areas hit by heavy bombardment, where damaged structures and unexploded debris can delay the retrieval of remains for long periods.

The operation has also been described as the fifth largest of its kind since the war began in October 2023, in terms of the number of bodies recovered. The burial is significant because it reflects the continuing humanitarian and forensic aftermath of the war in Gaza, where families are still recovering the remains of relatives killed in earlier strikes. It also highlights the role of civil defence teams in body recovery, identification and burial arrangements in a territory where access, equipment and safety have been major constraints.

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The involvement of an Egyptian committee suggests cross-border coordination in a process that remains sensitive and logistically difficult. One family member, Osama Sharaf, said 37 members of his family were killed in the attack. He said some were recovered earlier in the war and 16 more were recovered on Wednesday, including his father, mother and all of his siblings.

He also said his sister's son was among those found. His account illustrates the scale of loss linked to a single strike and the long delay before some remains could be recovered and buried. What remains unclear is whether all of the recovered remains have been formally identified and whether any further bodies may still be found at the site.

The immediate next step is the funeral procession and burial at Sheikh Radwan cemetery. The broader issue is whether recovery operations can continue safely in other damaged areas of Gaza, where many families are still waiting for news of missing relatives.

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