‘I wanted to hug whatever remained’: Gaza families’ 3-year wait for funeral

Gaza City witnessed an unprecedented gathering as thousands assembled for a mass funeral honoring 112 members of two extended families whose remains were recovered from rubble nearly three years after an Israeli military strike. The ceremony, held in the Sabra neighborhood, represented the largest funeral observance in Gaza since the conflict began in 2023.

Lara Abu Shreia, a 39-year-old survivor, described the emotional weight of the occasion. On November 22, 2023, an airstrike struck her family compound, killing 14 of her closest relatives including her mother and eight siblings. At the time of the strike, Lara had been displaced to southern Gaza following an Israeli evacuation directive issued at the war's outset. She remained separated from her family members who stayed behind, maintaining contact through occasional phone calls until communication ceased following the attack.

When Lara learned that the family building had been struck, she struggled to locate survivors or confirm casualties. For months afterward, she remained unable to fully accept the loss. Upon returning to Gaza City in January 2025, she visited the strike site, hoping against evidence that family members might have survived. The discovery and recovery of remains years later brought both closure and renewed grief, as Lara described the funeral as feeling like experiencing the loss anew.

The broader conflict has resulted in more than 73,370 Palestinian deaths according to available figures. The recovery of remains from mass casualty events and their eventual identification through forensic processes has become a recurring aspect of the humanitarian crisis, with families enduring prolonged uncertainty before achieving the ability to conduct formal funeral rites.