Gaza holds mass funeral for 75 Palestinians recovered from rubble

Hundreds of people joined a funeral procession in Gaza City on October 18, 2026, for 75 Palestinians whose remains were recovered from under rubble in recent weeks.

The 75 were buried at Sheikh Radwan Cemetery after the procession, in a mass funeral attended by relatives and residents. Al Jazeera

Most of the victims were from the Daraj neighbourhood in northeastern Gaza City, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Gaza Civil Defence official Abdullah al-Majdalawi said the remains were pulled from several destroyed homes in Daraj over recent weeks.

Those killed belonged to about 20 Palestinian families, including displaced people who had been sheltering in the homes. The majority were women and children who were inside their homes when targeted.

The recoveries are part of a wider effort to find people buried in destroyed buildings across Gaza. Gaza's Civil Defence launched the second phase of its rubble recovery operations in July, after recovering 333 bodies and the remains of 559 people in a first operation in November 2025.

The agency estimates that the remains of another 8,000 Palestinians are still trapped beneath rubble. UNRWA estimates there are about 200,000 damaged and destroyed buildings in Gaza, leaving search teams with a vast area to cover.

At least 74,475 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023, according to figures reported on October 18. Al Jazeera