Gaza City Vigil Held for 105 Bodies Recovered from War Rubble

Hundreds of mourners gathered in Gaza City on Wednesday for a vigil marking the recovery of the bodies of 105 people killed during the war.

The remains were recovered over several days from rubble left by buildings destroyed by Israeli strikes, according to the source report. They were placed in white bags and covered with Palestinian flags as mourners gathered around them.

Some of the bodies were laid on top of the rubble where they had been found, underscoring the difficulties involved in retrieving people who remained buried beneath destroyed buildings.

Families mourn recovered remains

Fawaz Ziyara said he attended the vigil to mourn relatives. He said the victims had been targeted on 25 October 2023 and remained under the rubble because they were difficult to reach.

“Today, they managed to bring them out, allowing us to see them and bid them farewell,” Taghreed Hinnawi said. Hinnawi, identified as the mother of one victim, also described the continuing pain of losing her daughter.

“We are unable to heal or move past the moment of my daughter’s martyrdom,” she said.

Thousands still believed buried

The report said Israel has not allowed heavy machinery into Gaza to clear the rubble of destroyed buildings and recover the dead. Earlier this month, the United Nations estimated that more than 8,000 bodies remained buried beneath the debris.

Mass funerals have become more frequent in Gaza. On Tuesday, mourners in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza held a funeral for nearly 50 people killed during the war.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza says more than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed since 7 October 2023. The figure is presented as an attributed statement and has not been independently verified in the source material.

The source report said a ceasefire took effect in October 2025 but that strikes continued on the Palestinian territory. Several international non-governmental organisations and a United Nations commission have found that Israel committed genocide in the Gaza Strip, according to the report.