Gaza City, Gaza Strip – For 39-year-old Lara Abu Shreia, the night before Tuesday’s funeral was sleepless. As she prepared for a long-awaited farewell, she spent the hours scrolling through photos of her relatives, unable to stop the memories from flooding back. She was among thousands who gathered in the Sabra neighbourhood to attend the largest mass funeral held in Gaza since the war began in 2023.
The ceremony marked the final, painful chapter for 112 members of the Abu Shreia and al-Hassaina families, whose remains were recently recovered from the wreckage of their homes. These individuals were killed during an Israeli air attack on November 22, 2023, which decimated the family compound in Sabra.
As the white bags containing the recovered remains were brought to the site, the atmosphere was one of profound, renewed grief. “Today felt like the first day I lost them,” Lara said, describing the experience of finally laying her family to rest. “It was a renewed grief, saying goodbye to them this way.”
The 2023 strike claimed the lives of 14 of Lara’s closest relatives, including her mother, Nawal, and all eight of her siblings. At the time of the attack, Lara had been displaced to southern Gaza following evacuation orders, while her family remained in the north. She recalled the agonizing period of uncertainty, marked by failed attempts to reach them via phone and the eventual confirmation from her husband that their building had been destroyed.
For months, Lara struggled to process the loss, often imagining that survivors might still be trapped or injured. Upon returning to the area in January 2025, she visited the site of the strike, clinging to the desperate hope that she might find someone who had managed to hide.
The recovery of the 112 victims was the result of long, complex operations conducted by Palestinian Civil Defence teams. Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Civil Defence, noted that this was an unprecedented event in the history of the Palestinian cause. He estimated that more than 8,000 bodies still lie buried beneath the rubble across the Gaza Strip.
Basal highlighted the immense challenges facing recovery crews, who lack the necessary equipment to navigate the scale of the destruction. He warned that many victims may never be recovered, as some remains have been scattered, destroyed, or have disappeared entirely under the debris.
Despite the warnings of relatives who feared the emotional toll, Lara insisted on being present during the recovery efforts. “I told them: ‘I want to see. Even if it is just a bone, I want to see something from them,'” she said. “Until now, I still cannot believe they are all gone.”
Ali Abu Shreia, a 50-year-old relative who was also displaced during the war, lost two brothers—51-year-old Ahmad and 53-year-old Moeen—along with their entire families. According to Ali, the attack unfolded in less than two hours as family members sought safety in the home of former minister Mufeed al-Hassaina, believing it would be a secure refuge.
“They thought they would be safe, but the war machine did not distinguish between civilians, homes, or families,” Ali said. He described the victims as ordinary, active community members, noting that seven families were effectively erased from the civil registry in that single strike.
The funeral procession was a scene of collective mourning, with men, children, and elderly relatives struggling to maintain composure. From nearby balconies, women wept and scattered flowers as the procession moved through the neighbourhood.
For Lara, the funeral provided a somber conclusion to three years of waiting, though she noted it offered little in the way of true closure. Standing near the remains of her loved ones, she expressed the finality of her grief: “I wanted to hug the bag. I wanted to hug whatever remained of them.”
At the time, Lara, her husband and their five children had been displaced to southern Gaza after a forced evacuation threat issued by Israel at the start of the war, which has killed more than 73,370 Palestinians.
“I was worried, but I kept telling myself maybe the network was down,” she says.
“Sometimes I think maybe someone was injured and waiting for help.
“While I was in the south, I was constantly anxious.
Whenever possible, she would communicate with one of her sisters, relying on brief phone calls to reassure herself that her family was safe.
Then, one night, Lara saw reports that strikes had hit Sabra.
She tried calling her sister, but there was no answer.
She repeatedly sent messages, hoping the silence was only because of the severe communication disruptions at the time.
With the world pulled out from under her, Lara tried to find anyone who could reach the house, rescue survivors, or confirm whether anyone was still alive.
Sometimes I think about them suffocating under the rubble.
I almost lose my mind thinking about their last moments,” says Lara.
When she returned from the south in January 2025, she immediately went to the site of the strike.
“I kept telling myself maybe they were playing a trick on me.
Maybe I will find someone we didn’t know about,” she says.
A total of 112 were found, out of 153 believed missing.
“We need the capabilities and equipment to enter Gaza so Civil Defence teams can carry out this humanitarian mission,” he adds, noting that teams are continuing searches in other destroyed homes across Gaza, but not every victim will be recovered.
Some have been scattered into very small pieces, making identification extremely difficult,” he says.
“The news began arriving: one house was hit, then another, then another,” he recalls.
According to his information, the people inside the homes moved from one place to another, eventually seeking shelter in the home of Mufeed al-Hassaina, a former Palestinian minister of public works and housing.
“Business owners, traders, people active in their community,” he adds.
Source: Aljazeera
