Funeral held for 75 Palestinians after remains recovered from Gaza ruins

SaveSharefacebookxwhatsapp-strokecopylinkBodies of Palestinians wrapped in shrouds and Palestinian flags are laid out during a funeral ceremony in the Daraj neighborhood in eastern Gaza City for 75 Palestinians [Khames Alrefi/Anadolu/Getty Images]By Al Jazeera Staff and AnadoluPublished On 18 Oct 202618 Oct 2026A mass funeral has been held for 75 Palestinians whose remains were found recently under the rubble of homes and buildings destroyed in the months since Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, the Ministry of Health announced.Hundreds of Palestinians attended the funeral procession before the remains were buried at the Sheikh Radwan Cemetery on Sunday morning.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Alone in Gaza: Genocide leaves Palestinian man without family or a homelist 2 of 3Food affordability fears plague Gaza as Israel halts commercial goodslist 3 of 3Israeli drone attacks kill six Palestinians across Gaza despite ‘ceasefire’end of listMost of the victims were from the Daraj neighbourhood in the northeastern part of Gaza City.Al Jazeera correspondent Nour Khaled said the majority of the remains belonged to women and children “who were inside their homes when they were targeted”.The remains consisted of some body parts and personal belongings and were wrapped in Palestinian flags before the burial, she said. Abdullah al-Majdalawi, director of public relations and media for Gaza’s Civil Defence, told the Turkish state news agency Anadolu that the remains had been recovered over recent weeks from several destroyed homes in Daraj.He said the buildings were bombed while residents were inside during the early months of the war and that the victims belonged to about 20 Palestinian families, including people who had been displaced to the homes.Efforts to recover bodies from beneath the rubble continue to face severe difficulties due to a lack of equipment and heavy machinery, he added.The Civil Defence launched the second phase of its recovery operations in July. It recovered 333 bodies and remains of 559 people during its first operation in November 2025.The Civil Defence says it believes the remains of another 8,000 Palestinians are still trapped beneath the rubble across Gaza. There are about 200,000 damaged and destroyed buildings in Gaza, according to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.At least 74,475 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched the genocidal war three years ago.