Amid the debris and remnants of structures in Gaza City, over 100 orange stretchers were covered with Palestinian flags on Tuesday morning, marking the location of an Israeli airstrike that occurred at the beginning of the conflict. Some flags, smaller in size, represented the bodies of children. Photos and flower petals adorned the makeshift shrouds, containing only bones, teeth, and shreds of clothing after nearly three years of recovery efforts.
These remains belonged to 112 individuals from the Abu Sharia and Hasayna families, both part of the same lineage, who were victims of the Israeli airstrike on November 23, 2023, in their residential neighborhood.
Mourners gathered on Tuesday in a Gaza City neighborhood where it’s taken nearly three years to retrieve the remains of 112 people killed by an Israeli airstrike. Surviving members of the Abu Sharia and Hasayna families said they’ve long been looking alongside Gaza’s Civil Defense for their loved ones, but a lack of heavy machinery in the war-torn territory has slowed their efforts.
A large crowd, including surviving relatives, congregated on Tuesday morning to offer prayers for the deceased as they were interred at the nearby Baptist graveyard.
Family members expressed their prolonged search efforts alongside Gaza’s Civil Defense, a group of first responders tasked with searching for survivors and recovering remains at strike locations. However, the lack of heavy machinery in the region hindered the process.
Mahmoud Hasayneh, present to lay his brothers to rest, shared the renewed pain of the family, stating, “Now we will commence a fresh chapter of sorrow with this task as our entire family grieves.”
Requirement for Heavy Equipment
Youssef Abu Sharia, 23, witnessed an excavator painstakingly digging through rubble and soil at the strike site last month in hopes of locating any buried remains. The strip’s limited heavy machinery, damaged in Israeli attacks, coupled with Israeli restrictions on importing such equipment, posed challenges in the recovery efforts.
Having lost his mother, father, brother, and cousins in the November airstrike, Abu Sharia had been searching for their remains for years, impeded by the equipment shortage.
In October 2023, amid the onset of the conflict, Abu Sharia and some relatives opted to separate to avoid the risk of the entire family being wiped out in one strike. Despite their precautions, his parents and brother, remaining in Gaza City, fell victim to the attack shortly after.
