Hundreds of Palestinians gathered in Gaza City on Thursday to bury the remains of 105 people recovered from beneath buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardment, as thousands of missing Palestinians are still believed to lie beneath the rubble across the besieged Gaza Strip.

The remains were recovered from destroyed residential buildings in the Al-Yarmouk area and were wrapped in Palestinian flags before funeral prayers were held. They were then transferred to the Martyrs Cemetery in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, northwest of Gaza City, for burial.

Local recovery teams, assisted by technical teams from Egypt and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), retrieved the remains from buildings destroyed during Israeli attacks in October 2023.

Families of the victims had held a farewell ceremony at the site of the bombardment a day earlier, lighting candles as they mourned relatives whose remains had remained buried beneath the rubble for nearly three years.

Mamdouh Atallah, who attended the funeral, said the recovery operation began about 20 days ago, with civil defense teams receiving assistance from Egypt.

He said the remains were recovered from beneath 16 residential buildings in the Al-Taj area that were struck on Oct. 25, 2023. The buildings contained 138 apartments.

According to Atallah, around 450 Palestinians, including women, children and elderly people, were killed in the attack. The remains of 105 people have been recovered so far, including 37 children and 38 women, while others are still believed to be trapped beneath the debris.

The figures were cited during a press conference held by Gaza's Civil Defense Directorate, attended by representatives of around 20 families. The families appealed for urgent assistance and equipment to recover the remaining remains and provide a dignified burial for their loved ones.

Civil Defense officials said recovery teams urgently needed 10 excavators, 30 bulldozers and 100 heavy loaders to remove rubble and locate the missing.

More than 8,000 bodies are believed to remain beneath destroyed buildings across Gaza, according to Civil Defense sources, highlighting the immense scale of the destruction and the continuing anguish of families searching for relatives missing since Israel's military assault began in October 2023.

The recovery operation underscores the humanitarian consequences of the bombardment, with families still awaiting answers about the fate of their loved ones and rescue teams struggling to work amid the enormous volume of debris.

Palestinian families and rescue workers have called for urgent international assistance to provide the heavy machinery needed to recover the missing and ensure that those killed can be identified and buried with dignity. (ILKHA)