Gaza buries 112 Palestinians recovered after three years under Sabra rubble

On 4 August 2026, Gaza held a large collective funeral for 112 Palestinians whose bodies were recovered from the rubble of the Sabra neighbourhood, where an Israeli airstrike in November 2023 killed members of the Abu Sharia and Al‑Hasayine families. The bodies, many of them children, women, elderly and disabled, were extracted after a 17‑day search that lasted nearly three years, and were laid out wrapped in Palestinian flags before being interred at the Sheikh Shaaban cemetery.

The burial ceremony drew thousands of mourners, including political figures, who called for an end to the Israeli attacks on Gaza. Officials said 157 other victims remain missing under the debris. The November 2023 strike destroyed entire family clans, killing 308 relatives, among them 40 children and 30 women. Mahmoud Basal, a spokesperson for Gaza’s Civil Defence, described the event as one of the deadliest tragedies for Gaza families during the ongoing war.

The funeral underscored the broader humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, where more than 73 000 Palestinians have been killed since the conflict began in October 2023, and many families continue to search for missing loved ones.