Burying 112 Martyrs: Gaza Residents Mourn an Entire Family Found Beneath the Rubble - Sarmad

(Royters) – The remains of 112 decomposed bodies rested on stretchers wrapped in flags under the scorching sun. This is all that remains of members of the Al-Husayna and Abu Shrayeh tribes, a Palestinian clan with deep-rooted Bedouin heritage, which was nearly wiped out by Israeli occupation forces about three years ago.

Palestinian authorities say 308 members of the tribe were martyred on November 22, 2023, when Israeli airstrikes destroyed a group of buildings while residents were sleeping in the Sabra neighborhood, one of the old quarters of Gaza City.

About half of the victims were recovered and buried earlier, but 153 bodies remained under the rubble until now.

After nearly three years, a team of 40 workers spent 17 days meticulously and carefully searching through the debris, extracting remains identified as belonging to 112 of the missing.

Neighbors and surviving members of the tribe gathered on Tuesday in a plot of land cleared of rubble after its destruction, where the remains were displayed in preparation for what Palestinian authorities described as the largest mass funeral in the Gaza war.

Men carried the stretchers and walked with them through the streets. A banner adorned with photos of the martyrs—men, women, and children—was displayed.

Taysir Al-Husayna, a survivor from the tribe, said, “This is a day where sorrow… and wounds reopened after three years since this massacre.”

He added, “Sorrow has returned to our children and women, but our consolation is that we say they are martyrs with God.”

Palestinian health authorities state that more than 73,000 Palestinians were martyred in the Israeli war on Gaza. Most deaths were documented when bodies were transferred to morgues and buried, but it is believed that around 8,000 others remain buried under the rubble.