In Gaza City, the aftermath of an Israeli airstrike from the beginning of the conflict was marked by a solemn scene on Tuesday morning. Over 100 orange stretchers, adorned with Palestinian flags, lay among the debris and remnants of buildings. Among them were smaller flags, symbolizing the young lives lost. These stretchers held the remains of 112 individuals from the Abu Sharia and Hasayna families, who perished in the Israeli airstrike on their neighborhood on November 23, 2023.

The long and painstaking process of recovering these remains, now reduced to bones, teeth, and shreds of clothing, took nearly three years. Surviving family members, along with hundreds of others, gathered to offer prayers for the deceased as they were laid to rest at the nearby Baptist cemetery. The families, in collaboration with Gaza’s Civil Defence, have been tirelessly searching for their loved ones, but the lack of heavy machinery in the area has hindered their efforts.

Mahmoud Hasayneh, mourning the loss of his brothers, expressed the deep emotional toll on the family, stating, “Now we will start a new broken heart with this mission, and all our family is crying.” Youssef Abu Sharia, who lost multiple family members in the strike, has been actively searching for their remains. The process has been slow due to the damages inflicted on heavy machinery in Gaza and restrictions on importing such equipment imposed by Israel.

Abu Sharia, having made the difficult decision to separate from his family during the conflict to mitigate the risk of a collective tragedy, shared his relief at finally being able to lay his loved ones to rest after years of waiting. However, the pain of the loss and the prolonged search for closure still lingered. The families, feeling abandoned by the lack of resources and tools, have taken matters into their own hands, resorting to manual labor to uncover the remains.

The situation in Gaza is dire, with thousands still missing beneath the rubble, as Zaher al-Waheidi of the health ministry’s records department highlighted. The true toll is believed to be much higher, with entire families perishing in single attacks, leaving no one to report their disappearance. Civil Defence spokesperson Mahmoud Basal emphasized the urgent need for international intervention to provide the necessary machinery for excavation efforts.

The funeral on Tuesday was a historic and tragic event, with 112 individuals being laid to rest together. The families, after a long and agonizing wait, finally bid farewell to their loved ones with prayers and chants. As the burial concluded, Youssef Abu Sharia and his family, haunted by the unresolved fate of the missing, pondered the lingering question, “Where did they go?”