Gaza Holds Mass Funeral for 112 People Killed in 2023 Strike on Sabra Neighbourhood

• Gaza City held what is believed to be its largest mass funeral after remains of 112 victims were recovered from rubble in Sabra neighbourhood
• The dead, mostly women and children from two extended families, were buried after a two-week recovery operation supported by the Red Cross
• Forty children, 38 women and seven people with disabilities are among those confirmed killed in the November 2023 strike

Gaza City witnessed what is believed to be the largest mass funeral held in the territory since the start of the war, as families buried 112 people killed in an Israeli strike on the Sabra neighbourhood on November 22, 2023.

The victims belonged to two extended families, the Abu Sharia and Hassayna clans.

Their remains had been trapped beneath a collapsed residential block for over a year and were only recovered following a two-week excavation effort by Gaza's Civil Defence, with logistical support from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Footage from the funeral showed the bodies arranged in rows on the ground, each one draped in a Palestinian flag, with photographs of some of the dead placed alongside them, before relatives carried them away for burial.

Victims Were Mostly Women and Children

Among the 112 dead were 40 children, 38 women, and seven people with disabilities. The strike occurred six weeks after the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people and led to 251 being taken hostage. The BBC asked the Israel Defense Forces for comment on what was targeted in the Sabra strike but had not received a response.

"I'm the sole survivor of my family," said Yousef Abu Sharia. "Today, I'm talking to you [as] the one who lost my mother, my father, my uncle and my cousins and all my family. I lost them under this rubble."

Another mourner, Ali Abu Sharia, described the mixed emotions of the day: "After we managed to retrieve them and bury them, perhaps we can be partially relieved despite the pain of loss and all we're still living through."

Red Cross Supported the Recovery Operation

Civil Defence spokesman Mohammed Basel said the multi-storey building had been completely flattened, with roughly 90 per cent of the estimated 180 or more civilians inside killed. Rescue teams could not reach the site immediately after the attack because of ongoing danger and the need for coordination with Israel through a third party.

The ICRC provided equipment, training, and excavation support throughout the operation. "It's not an answer any family wants to receive — confirmation that your loved one has been killed," said ICRC spokesperson Patrick Griffiths. "But it's essential towards them receiving closure and being able to mourn their loss in their own way."

Nahed al-Hassayna, standing in the rubble of what was once his family's living room, held up a school backpack and a child's shoe. "The kids — what did they do?" he said. "This was a school backpack for Omar, and this was Ibrahim's shoe. Why? Why were they killed?"

Civil Defence officials believe dozens more bodies remain buried at the Sabra site. Across Gaza, thousands of people are still unaccounted for, with many thought to be buried beneath rubble from Israeli air strikes. Since the start of the war, at least 73,377 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures the United Nations considers reliable.

Israel kills leader of Hamas’ military wing

Legit.ng earlier reported that the Israeli military has confirmed the killing of Izz al-Din al-Haddad, leader of Hamas’ military wing and one of the last surviving senior figures linked to the October 7, 2023 attacks that triggered the war in Gaza.

According to Israeli authorities, al-Haddad was killed during an airstrike carried out on Friday, May 15, in Gaza. The military described him as a central operational commander involved in planning and executing the Hamas-led assault on Israel that left about 1,200 people dead and saw more than 250 hostages taken into Gaza.