Palestinians bury remains of 105 people killed in Israeli attack on Gaza
Family members of the victims performed funeral prayers over the remains, which were wrapped in Palestinian flags.
Hundreds of people attended a mass funeral for 105 Palestinians killed in a devastating Israeli attack on Gaza City in October 2023.
Family members of the victims performed funeral prayers over the remains, which were wrapped in Palestinian flags, before they were taken to Martyrs Cemetery in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, northwest of Gaza City, and buried, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported on Thursday.
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The victims were killed in a series of Israeli air strikes involving at least 20 bombs that levelled the seven-storey Al Taj 3 building and destroyed several other residential buildings in the Yarmouk Square neighbourhood on the afternoon of October 25, 2023, as part of Israel’s ongoing genocidal war.
According to Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, many of those killed were displaced families “who were staying with their relatives after they were forced to flee … the horror of the carpet bombing of the northern part of the Strip”.
He described the mood ahead of the funeral early on Thursday as one filled with “grief” but also said the ceremony provided “long-awaited closure”.
“After nearly three years of uncertainty … those who survived, their relatives … they’re going to say goodbye.”
Gaza’s civil defence said the recovery operation was carried out in coordination with an Egyptian committee.
Al Jazeera correspondent Ibrahim al-Khalili, reporting from Gaza City, said the operation was the fifth-largest of its kind since Israel launched its genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza in October 2023, in terms of the number of bodies recovered.
Civil defence operations director Abdul al-Majdalawi said it had been “impossible” to reach the bodies at the time of the attack.
“Bulldozers, excavators and other heavy machinery used by civil defence teams in Gaza were directly and deliberately targeted,” he said.
Osama Sharaf said 37 members of his family were killed in the attack.
“We recovered some of them at the beginning of the war, and today [Wednesday], 16 more were recovered, including my father, my mother and all of my siblings. My sister’s son was also there with them,” he said.
No ‘normal’ days
Despite the so-called “ceasefire” agreed upon last October, Israeli attacks on Gaza have continued, with eight Palestinians killed in the last 24 hours, including a child, a woman and a journalist.
At least 1,431 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since the “truce” took effect, according to Palestinian health authorities.
“Since the ceasefire was signed back in October 2025, nearly a year now, we’re looking at more than 5,000 violations by the Israeli military,” said Mahmoud.
“People are very worried now just to step outside in the streets … what’s supposed to be normal days are not.”
According to Sultan Barakat, a professor of public policy at Qatar Foundation’s Hamad Bin Khalifa University, the international community has been unable to hold Israel accountable and has not been able to restrain Israel from “having a free hand in Gaza”.
“There were a number of issues that the Israelis should have done in order to progress the agreement,” Barakat told Al Jazeera.
Israelis continued to talk about the total disarmament of Hamas, even while no international force has been brought in to provide security, as was stated in the original agreement, he said.
“There is no one to protect the Palestinians. There’s no one to ensure security on the streets in Gaza,” said Barakat.