A mass funeral was held Tuesday in Deir al-Balah for 112 Palestinians whose remains were recovered from the rubble of an Israeli airstrike that occurred nearly three years ago. Palestinian authorities described the event as the largest mass funeral of the Gaza war, as mourners gathered around more than 100 coffins wrapped in Palestinian flags arranged in rows on a lot of demolished ruins.
The November 2023 Strike
The victims were part of a larger group of more than 300 people killed on November 22, 2023, when Israeli warplanes demolished a residential block in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City. According to Palestinian authorities, 308 members of the extended Al-Hassayna family—also known as the Abu Sharia—were killed when the strikes brought down a cluster of apartment buildings while residents slept. Omar Al-Hassayna, a 65-year-old survivor, stated that the strikes hit three residential buildings where family members had gathered for shelter. Two of those buildings were completely destroyed, killing almost everyone inside.
The Al-Hassaynas are a branch of a prominent clan of Bedouin stock known for humility and generosity. The strike effectively wiped out nearly the entire clan. Omar Al-Hassayna, who escaped to Egypt days after the bombing, lost his wife and four adult sons: Abdallah, Abdel-Rahman, Ahmed, and Osama.
Recovery Efforts and Identification
While approximately 40 victims were recovered by people using bare hands and basic tools immediately following the strike, 153 bodies remained under the rubble. In mid-July, a recovery team of 40 Palestinian Civil Defense workers spent 17 days combing the wreckage to retrieve the remains of 112 victims. These remains included 44 children and 37 women, according to democracynow.org.
Mahmoud Basal, a spokesperson for Gaza’s Civil Emergency Service, noted that identification was achieved through jewelry, necklaces bearing names, and bone fixation plates found on some organs. Following the conclusion of this operation, the recovery team intends to move to other accessible areas of Gaza. Basal told Reuters that if the team had 10 excavators, bulldozers, and cranes, the recovery work could be completed in three months.
Broader Humanitarian Context
The recovery of these bodies was made possible by an October ceasefire, although theguardian.com reports that Israeli bombing has not stopped since that agreement. Palestinian health authorities confirm more than 73,000 Palestinians have died in the war, with around 8,000 believed to still lie beneath the rubble. Zaher al-Waheidi, head of the Gaza health ministry’s records department, stated that at least 7,400 people have been reported missing by relatives, though the actual number is likely thousands higher because some strikes killed entire families, leaving no one to report them.
The conflict began after Hamas-led fighters killed 1,200 Israelis and took 251 hostages on October 7, 2023. Since the October ceasefire, more than 1,250 Palestinians and five Israeli soldiers have been killed. While U.S. President Donald Trump hailed a historic agreement
intended to lead to Israeli withdrawal and Hamas disarming, ceasefire talks have largely stalled due to Israeli security concerns and Hamas’s demand that disarmament be conditional on a full Israeli withdrawal.
Summary of Al-Hassayna Clan Casualties
- Total estimated killed in strike: 308 people
- Recovered in initial aftermath: Approximately 40 people
- Recovered in July operation: 112 people (including 44 children and 37 women)
- Remaining missing: 157 people
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