Hundreds of mourners gathered in Gaza City on Wednesday for a vigil for 105 people whose bodies were recently recovered from destroyed buildings.
The remains were retrieved from rubble left by Israeli strikes during the war in Gaza. The victims had been buried beneath destroyed buildings since the early stages of the conflict, according to mourners and local authorities.
Fawaz Ziyara, who attended the vigil to mourn relatives, said that the victims had died during the early stages of Israel’s military campaign. The bodies were wrapped in white bags and covered with Palestinian flags during the vigil. Plastic candles and red lights from ambulance vehicles illuminated the gathering.
Some mourners stood beside bodies placed on rubble from the buildings where their relatives were found. Taghreed Hinnawi, whose daughter was among those recovered, said that the family remained unable to move beyond her death. The recovery of bodies from destroyed buildings has become a recurring feature of life in Gaza.
Heavy machinery required to clear large quantities of rubble and recover bodies has not been allowed into the territory, according to the report. A mass funeral was also held on Tuesday in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza for nearly 50 people killed during the war. The United Nations estimated earlier this month that more than 8,000 bodies remained buried beneath rubble across Gaza.
More than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed since 7 October 2023, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. Israel has continued military strikes in Gaza despite a ceasefire which took effect in October 2025, according to the source material. The conflict has generated continuing international scrutiny of the conduct of military operations and the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Several international non-governmental organisations and a United Nations commission have concluded that Israel committed genocide in Gaza. Israel has rejected accusations of genocide and has stated that its military campaign is directed against Hamas. The recovery of bodies has remained a major humanitarian challenge as large areas of Gaza have remained covered by debris from destroyed buildings.
For families, the discovery of remains has provided an opportunity to identify relatives and hold funerals while also reopening wounds from the conflict.
